Islam Times - JCPOA Alive because of Iran, E3 Did ‘Zilch’ to Maintain Deal

Islam Times - Iran’s foreign minister says since its inception in July 2015, the three European signatories to the landmark nuclear deal with Iran have done nothing to protect it and it is only alive because of Iran’s efforts to maintain the accord.

Mohammad Javad Zarif’s remarks came in a Sunday tweet after three European signatories to the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), accused Iran of planning to produce uranium metal-based fuel has military implications and also after his French counterpart, Jean Yves Le Drian, claimed that Iran “is in the process of acquiring nuclear (weapons) capacity.”

In a statement on Saturday, the three European sides – the United Kingdom, Germany and France – claimed that Iran’s move to begin work on uranium metal-based fuel contravened the JCPOA, saying that under the deal, Iran had committed to not engaging in production of uranium metal or conducting research and development on uranium metallurgy for 15 years.

“We strongly urge Iran to halt this activity, and return to compliance with its JCPOA commitments without further delay if it is serious about preserving the deal,” the trio’s statement added.

However, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) on Saturday rejected the accusation and urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European trio to avoid creating any “misunderstanding” surrounding the issue, stressing that the Islamic Republic had not yet “presented the design information questionnaire (DIQ) of the uranium metal factory” to the UN nuclear agency.

In response to the claim made by the three European parties to the multilateral nuclear agreement, Zarif tweeted, “E3 leaders—who rely on signature of OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) functionaries to carry out their obligations under JCPOA—have done ZILCH to maintain JCPOA.”