Tehran 0
11 November 2019

Following Iran’s “fourth step” in reducing its JCPOA commitments, France, Germany, UK and EU issued a joint statement noting that they were “extremely concerned” and contending that “Iran’s action is inconsistent with the JCPOA’s clear provisions on Fordow and has potentially severe proliferation implications”. The statement called on Iran to “return to full implementation of its commitments under the JCPOA without delay”, and expressed “readiness to consider all mechanisms in the JCPOA, including the dispute resolution mechanism, to resolve the issues related to Iran’s implementation of its JCPOA commitments”. “We stand ready to continue our diplomatic efforts to create the conditions for, and to facilitate, the de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East”, the statement asserted, adding that “these efforts are however made increasingly difficult by Iran’s latest actions”. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif subsequently addressed the Europeans by tweet, asking “’Fully upheld commitments under JCPOA’. You? Really? Just show one that you’ve upheld in the last eighteen months”. “Iran triggered – and exhausted – the dispute resolution mechanism while you were procrastinating. We’re now using [JCPOA] paragraph 36 remedies”, Zarif added.

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