The spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization says Tehran wants to bring the nuclear deal “back on track,” after the country announced it would suspend some of the pact’s restrictions in response to US sanctions.
“Our goal is to strengthen the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and bring it back on track,” spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said, Iranian news agency IRNA reports.
Iran said it would suspend restrictions on storing enriched uranium and heavy water as European members of the other JCPOA countries were not keeping their promises to protect its banking and oil sectors from US sanctions. It gave the countries a 60-day deadline to fulfill their promises and save the nuclear pact.
Tehran’s announcement comes a year after the US pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal and reinstated crippling sanctions on Iran, even though it had been abiding by the terms of the agreement.
The EU responded to Iran’s announcement, saying it rejects any ultimatums and remains committed to the nuclear deal. It said it regrets the sanctions imposed by the US and was committed to lifting them.