The German Foreign Minister said that “Iran must once again fully comply with its obligations under the agreement so that there will be no further destabilization of the entire region”.
The European Troika (France, Germany and the United Kingdom) will continue to work with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to preserve the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan (JPOA). This was announced by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas at a press conference on Monday in Berlin following talks with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.
“Together with France and the UK, we have done and will continue to do everything possible to preserve the Vienna nuclear agreement. And for this we intend to work very closely with you [the IAEA]” Maas said. “In our view, this is the best way to keep Iran from possessing nuclear weapons”, – he says.
“As far as Iran is concerned, it must once again fully comply with its obligations under the agreement, so that there is no further destabilization of the entire region”, – the German minister stressed.
The future of the nuclear deal was in question after the unilateral withdrawal of the US on 8 May 2018 and the imposition of sanctions on Tehran in the area of oil exports by Washington. According to Tehran, the other parties, especially Europeans, do not fully adhere to their obligations in the economic part of the agreement, so the deal as it stands makes no sense. Therefore, Iran has begun to suspend its obligations under the PRSA for uranium enrichment and research activities in stages, and in early January announced the completion of this process. On 18 October, the embargo on the supply and export of conventional weapons to Iran expired. The US has been opposed to the lifting of the arms embargo on Iran over the past few months. However, Russia, China and European countries have not supported Washington’s initiatives in the UN Security Council to extend the embargo on Tehran.