France, Britain, and Germany recently announced their decision to trigger the dispute mechanism in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - a step that could lead to the restoration of UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
The E3 said the measure was in response to Iran's reductions of its commitments to the JCPOA.
Reacting to the announcement in a Parliament session on Sunday, Ali Larijani said the measure has nothing to do with what Iran has done, but Europe’s fear of the United States.
“It is regrettable that a European foreign minister explicitly stated that the US has threatened them to increase the auto tariffs by 25% if they did not activate the trigger mechanism,” Larijani said.
He went on to add, “so the problem is not Iran’s behavior, as the Europeans themselves have repeatedly censured the US for withdrawing from the JCPOA. Rather, the problem is the US’ threats; that an economically powerful country is forcing Europe to adopt an unfair and humiliating approach.”
“Iran is not much for threats, but we state frankly that if Europe, for any reason, adopts an unfair approach in using the article 37 in the nuclear deal, we will then make a serious decision about our cooperation with the IAEA, and the plan is ready at the Iranian Parliament,” Larijani said.
“We will not start this, but act in accordance with the Europeans’ measures, therefore it is better for them to be fair and reasonable about this,” he added.
The nuclear deal has come under increasing strain ever since President Donald Trump announced the US withdrawal from the deal in May 2018 and unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against Iran despite global criticism.
Following the EU's failure in safeguarding Iran's economic interests against the US sanctions, Tehran has so far rowed back on its nuclear commitments five times, but stressed that it will reverse its measures as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield mutual trade from the US sanctions.
MNA/4829098
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