TEHRAN, Nov. 28 (MNA) – “The JCPOA, under the current conditions, does not allow the European parties to use trigger mechanism against Iran, since the country can use its legitimate right to counter US unilateral and illegal violation of the nuclear deal besides European’s lack of commitments,” the spokesperson of the ministry of foreign affairs announced on Thursday.

Reacting to the remarks of France’s foreign minister, who warned Iran on Wednesday about the possibility of activating a mechanism in the JCPOA that could pave the way for re-imposing UN sanctions on Tehran, Abbas Mousavi said “such irresponsible remarks are not constructive and will damage the political efforts made by all the JCPOA parties seeking removal of sanctions under the JCPOA and will also harm the ratification of the joint committee."

“The reason behind dispute resolution mechanism is resolving the problems predicted in the JCPOA regarding compensatory measures for both sides,” he said, “Iran has used its right, defined in Article 36, therefore, under the current circumstances, the JCPOA does not allow European sides to refer to the mechanism.”

In yet another hostile move, France warned Iran on Wednesday about the possibility of activating a mechanism in the JCPOA that could pave the way for re-imposing UN sanctions on Tehran.

According to Reuters, France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian made the comments at a parliamentary hearing, during which he made some meddlesome remarks on the recent foreign-orchestrated riots in some Iranian cities following government's decision to substantially increase the price of gasoline.

His comments about the snapback mechanism come as a surprise as the European countries, including France, have not taken any substantial step towards implementing their share of JCPOA obligations so far and have succumbed to the US pressures instead. 

On the US anniversary of the US withdrawal from the JCPOA, Tehran announced it would take steps back from its JCPOA obligations every 60-day unless the other signatories to the deal abide by their commitments under the accord.

As the latest step (the fourth step) to scale back JCPOA commitments, Iran injected gas into IR6 centrifuges and resumed uranium enrichment at Fordow nuclear facility in early November.

Iran has said that it will reverse its nuclear steps as soon as the other signatories return to their commitments.

MNA/4783349