Iran’s top diplomat Ali Bagheri said this Tuesday that the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) could be revived if the European side is willing to do so.
This Tuesday evening and in a series of tweets, Iran’s deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri said that the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and Western powers will have a chance of being fully revived only if the European troika, including the UK, Germany, and France, demonstrate “credible political will” and resume honoring their commitments they made back then.
“A critical reminder: 5 years ago, the US rendered a fatal blow to ‘rule of law at the international level’ by unlawfully withdrawing from JCPOA. Ever since, the US has failed to reverse its wrongful act. Iran’s legitimate remedial measures will continue,” Ali Bagheri said in a post on his Twitter account on Tuesday.
The Iranian diplomat also noted that the full implementation of the nuclear deal, which he explained as “effective sanctions lifting at its core” could be resumed, “should the reneging party (and EU/E3) demonstrate credible political will to that effect. No opportunity is forever!”
It was five years ago on May 8 that then-US President Donald Trump held up a signed executive order for the cameras at the White House, announcing a unilateral withdrawal from a nuclear deal Washington had signed in 2015 with Iran and world powers. As one of the members of the deal, the US government in fact violated the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the JCPOA.
Several rounds of negotiations to bring life back the to half-dead JCPOA have taken place since April 2021 between Iran and the European members of the deal-Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia- to bring the US back into the Iran deal.
Iran’s FM spokesman also already expressed hope of JCPOA revival
A day before Baqeri’s tweets on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani reiterated Tehran’s readiness for the conclusion of negotiations on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal and the removal of sanctions against Iran, warning the Europeans that such a window will not remain open forever.
“It is possible to salvage an agreement on reviving its nuclear deal both in term of the technical and political aspects, if Western parties, particularly the US, put an end to repeated delays,” Kanani said in a press conference on Monday.
Kanani also asserted that “Iran’s policy “is not to allow issues related to Iran’s peaceful nuclear activity to become an obstacle in the process of Iran’s cooperation” with the UN nuclear watchdog.
IAEA cameras are connected again
To show good will in the path of reviving the AJCPOA, Iran agreed last week to let the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to be reinstalled at its nuclear facilities. UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi hailed the move as “a marked improvement” in his discussions with the Iranian government.
“We have agreed that those will be operating again and this is very, very important in terms of continuity of knowledge, in particular in the context of the possibility of the revival of JCPOA”, Grossi said last week on Friday.
Tehran denies wanting to acquire atomic weapons, and has said it had not made any attempt to enrich uranium beyond 60 percent purity, noting that unintended fluctuations may have occurred during the enrichment process.
“The Islamic republic of Iran is moving on the roadmap within the framework of the visit to Iran by Mr. Grossi … and in this regard, practical and operational actions have been introduced and we are moving forward,” Kanani said Monday.
