Zarif Slams EU3’s Failure to Honor JCPOA after Statement on Uranium Metal
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hit back at the three European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal for urging Tehran to stop producing uranium metal, saying Britain, France and Germany have done nothing to fulfill their JCPOA commitments.
“Have our E3 partners ever read paragraph 36 of JCPOA and Iran's many letters on that basis?” Zarif tweeted on Friday evening.
“By what logic is the onus on IRAN to stop its remedial measures undertaken a full year after the US withdrew from — and continues to violate — the JCPOA? What have E3 done to fulfill their duties?” Zarif added.
It came after the three EU states claimed that Iran risks losing the opportunity to fully realize the agreement by starting to produce uranium metal.
In a statement on Friday, Britain, France and Germany said, “In escalating its non-compliance, Iran is undermining the opportunity for renewed diplomacy to fully realize the objectives of the JCPOA.”
“We strongly urge Iran to halt these activities without delay and not to take any new non-compliant steps on its nuclear program,” the statement from the trio added.
The E3 statement came after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday that Iran has started producing uranium metal.
Iran has already made it clear that its move to produce advanced fuel for a research reactor in Tehran with uranium metal is not in contradiction to the Non-Proliferation Treaty or the Safeguards Agreement commitments.
