According to German’s DPA news agency, foreign ministers of Germany, France and UK, as the three European signatories to the JCPOA, as well as EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will hold a special session today to discuss the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which has been in shambles since President Donald Trump withdrew US from it and re-imposed sanctions on Iran.
The focus of the meeting in Brussels is to exchange views on ways to continue economic transactions with Iran in the face of US’ unilateral sanctions.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will also take part at the session in Brussels, before heading to Russia, according to The National.
This comes as Iran has given the five remaining parties to the nuclear deal a 60-day ultimatum to comply with their commitments, particularly those regarding Iran’s economic interests in the banking and energy sectors, before the country would start reducing portions of its own commitments to the agreement stage by stage.
EU was supposed to launch a trade mechanism for Iran, called INSTEX, to do business with the Islamic Republic despite US sanctions. The mechanism has yet to become operational.
Iran says at any given time that its demands are met, it will resume complying with the suspended commitments, which have been made impossible to continue due to the US measures and sanctions, according to FM Zarif.
The decision to reduce commitments to the JCPOA comes as Washington is ramping up pressure against Iran, by re-imposing new sanctions, including restrictions on Iran's low-level uranium enrichment and metal industry, and ending the sanctions waivers for Iran’s major oil clients in an attempt to drive the country’s oil exports to zero.
Iran has stressed that it has no intention to leave the JCPOA, and its decision on reducing commitments is still within the framework of the agreement.
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