British paper claims Iran, EU agreed last week to take measures against US sanctions

In a report on Iran's decision to increase its enriched uranium stockpile by fourfold in 10 days, the British Guardian newspaper wrote that "the EU last week agreed an unpublished timetable of its own with Iran to help ease trade between Tehran and European nations, but it is not clear whether the measures will come quickly enough or be sufficient to persuade Iran to rethink its strategy of chipping away at the deal."

At the end of a visit to Iran last weekend, the Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Helga Schmid, reiterated the EU support for Iran nuclear deal and stressed the necessity of preserving it. She said that while in Iran, she had discussed the current EU efforts, together with other European partners, to enable the continuation of legitimate trade with Iran, including through the operationalization of the special purpose vehicle "INSTEX".

European signatories, who claim they are trying to keep the accord alive by launching the long-awaited INSTEX to help Iran reap some benefits from the JCPOA, have so far failed to secure Iran's benefits from the pact.

Running out of patience with the EU's inaction in the face of the growing US pressure, Iran reduced its commitments under the deal on May 8, which marked the anniversary of US illegal withdrawal from the deal, and warned the EU that it would adopt new decisions about uranium enrichment after 60 days if its demands in relation to banking relations and oil sales were not met.

The spokesman of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Behrooz Kamalvandi announced today Iran would increase low-enriched uranium stockpile by fourfold in 10 days, exceeding the 300km limit set by the JCPOA. Meanwhile, he stressed that the Europeans still have time to save landmark JCPOA and that as soon as the Europeans carried out their commitments, Tehran would stick to the agreed uranium production limit.

Reacting to Iran's decision to enrich its enriched uranium stockpile, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the European Union will only react to any Iranian breach of the 2015 nuclear deal if the International Atomic Energy Agency formally identifies one

KI/PR