Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani is to meet and hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron's top diplomatic advisor Emmanuel Bonne over the recent developments regarding Iran’s nuclear deal also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Bonne had traveled to Iran on June 19 to hold high-level talks with the objective of contributing to a de-escalation of tensions between the US and Iran in the Persian Gulf.
Iran announced on Sunday (July 7) it would enrich uranium to a higher purity than 3.67%.
The country has not yet decided on the level of enrichment for the Tehran research reactor. Iran has previously said it needs five-percent enrichment for its Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and 20-percent for Tehran research reactor.
Tehran said it had planned out 60-day contingencies for every European failure to meet Iranian demands and could potentially ultimately scrap the deal altogether.
US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018, introducing old and new sanctions on Iran and seeking to scupper its implementation by the remaining signatories, including mainly Europe.
While being opposed to the US withdrawal and its attempts to hinder the agreement, the European signatories have been unable so far to ensure that Iran receives the economic benefits that it has been promised under the deal but which have been hampered by the US sanctions.
According to Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the Europeans are yet to meet Iran’s demands, including regarding a non-dollar direct payment channel with Iran known as INSTEX but were also making certain efforts, indicating that those efforts could still bear fruit.
Iran, which had been fully complying with all of its commitments despite the US pullout and the European shortfalls, then issued a deadline for its partners to step up their efforts or see Tehran gradually scale back its implementation of the deal under the agreement’s own provisions.
The Islamic Republic says the suspension of its commitments is not a violation of the JCPOA but is based on Articles 26 and 36 of the agreement itself.
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