TEHRAN – Iran will reduce some of its commitments to the nuclear deal inresponse to the United States’ decision to withdrew from the accord, statenews agency IRNA said on Tuesday.
“This will be communicated to the ambassadors of the five countries” stillparty to the deal — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — at ameeting on Wednesday with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed AbbasAraghchi, IRNA reported.
A foreign diplomat in Tehran confirmed to AFP that the ambassadors of thefive countries had been invited to a meeting with Araghchi on Wednesday atthe foreign ministry.
The US unilaterally withdrew on May 8, 2018 from the 2015 multilateraldeal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) under whichIran agreed to halt its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting ofbiting sanctions.
President Hassan Rouhani is also set to send a letter to the fivecountries’ heads of state in order to “clearly emphasise how much Iran hascommanded patience regarding the JCPOA,” IRNA reported.
“But opportunities have been lost, and the counterparts have been unableto live up to their commitments in the JCPOA, in a way that Iran is left noway but to reduce its commitments,” the news agency said, adding thatRouhani’s letter would be a “political” one.
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Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was also expected to explain the”technical and legal details of reduction of Iran’s commitments” in aseparate letter to Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign affairschief.
According to IRNA, Iran would reduce its commitments in two phases, withthe second coming two months after the first.
“If the counterparts do undertake any new measures Iran will return to theprevious situation” before it cut its commitments, it reported, withoutelaborating on which commitments Iran would step back from.
“Iran’s clear request is for the banking and oil situation to return tobefore the US withdrawal” in May 2018, IRNA said. The three European parties to the deal — Britain, Franceand Germany — tried to save the accord with a trade mechanism meant tobypass reimposed US sanctions, but their attempt was dismissed by Iran’ssupreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a “bitter joke”. -APP/AFP
