EU to ‘Strengthen’ Its Attempts to Save JCPOA
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The European Union said it will redouble its efforts to save the Iran nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), despite what it called Tehran’s "important breach" of commitments made in the 2015 deal by starting to enrich uranium to new levels.
EU spokesman Peter Stano claimed that Iran’s actions "will have serious implications when it comes to nuclear nonproliferation."
Stano said it was in everyone’s interest to rescue the deal and said the 27-nation bloc "will strengthen" its attempts to make sure all adhere to the commitments made in the landmark deal, AP reported.
The Iranian administration announced on Monday that Tehran has officially started to enrich uranium to a purity level of 20 percent at the Fordow nuclear site.
Last month, the Iranian parliament approved a law, dubbed the Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions, which requires the government to scale back more obligations under the JCPOA.
It also requires the AEOI to produce at least 120 kilograms of 20-percent enriched uranium annually and store it inside the country within two months after the adoption of the law.
The law further urges the AEOI to start the installation, gas injection, enrichment and storage of nuclear materials up to an appropriate enrichment degree within a period of three months using at least 1,000 IR-2m centrifuges.
Tehran has expressed its readiness to reverse the suspension of its commitments only if the US returns to the nuclear deal and lifts all sanctions without any preconditions or if the European co-signatories manage to protect business ties with Iran against Washington’s sanctions as part of their contractual obligations.
