European trio urge Iran to halt metal uranium enrichment

In spite of the fact that the three European parties to the Iran nuclear deal, namely Germany, France, and Britain, have not abided by their own commitments under the accord after the illegal US withdrawal from the deal in May 2018 forcing Tehran to scale back on some of its commitments, they continue to disregard Iran's legitimate demands. The E3 issued a joint statement on Friday expressing concern over the start of producing metal uranium by Iran.

"We, the governments of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, note with grave concern the recent confirmation by the IAEA that Iran is producing uranium metal in violation of the JCPoA. Under the JCPoA, Iran committed not to engage in producing or acquiring uranium metal or to conduct research and development on uranium metallurgy for 15 years," the E3 joint statement said as it appeared on the German Foreign Office website.

"Recalling our statement of January 16, we reiterate that Iran has no credible civilian justification for these activities, which are a key step in the development of a nuclear weapon," their statement further reads.

They continue to "strongly urge Iran to halt these activities without delay and not to take any new non-compliant steps on its nuclear program. In escalating its non-compliance, Iran is undermining the opportunity for renewed diplomacy to fully realise the objectives of the JCPOA."

After the illegitimate US exit from the JCPOA in May 2018, the three European signatories to the deal remained indifferent to making up for Iran’s losses.

Amid the Europeans’ lack of action, Iran took 5 steps to reduce its commitments to the deal while vowing that it will reverse the course as soon as the other parties live up to their commitments under the accord.

The Iranian parliament passed a bill, dubbed the Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions in early last December, setting a Feb. 21 deadline for Biden to lift the US sanctions. Otherwise, Iran will halt implementing the additional protocol. 

Iran has so far resumed 20% uranium enrichment at Fordow plant in accordance with the Parliament’s legislation and has warned that in the case Washington does not remove all the anti-Iran illegitimate sanctions, it will also stop voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol, which gives IAEA inspectors unannounced visits to Iranian facilities.

In relevant remarks, the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif warned of more reduction of JCPOA commitments by Iran when the Feb.20 deadline expires.  Yesterday, Zarif talked of developing the nuclear program and reducing cooperation with IAEA inspectors if the US and E3 continue their non-compliance with their JCPOA commitments.

KI/IRN84226966