UK urges Iran to return to nuclear deal commitments
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab joins EU to react to Iran's announcement to decrease commitments to JCPoA
LONDON
British government on Tuesday urged Iran to return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA).
“Iran’s latest actions clearly contravene the deal and pose a risk to our national security,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.
“We want to find a way forward through constructive international dialogue but Iran needs to stand by the commitments it made and urgently return to full compliance.”
Raab’s remarks followed similar reaction from the EU that also voiced concern on Iran’s latest announcement that it would decrease its commitments to the deal.
“We are concerned by President [Hasan] Rouhani’s announcement today to further reduce Iran’s commitments under the JCPoA,” EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic told reporters on Tuesday.
“We urge Iran to reverse all activities that are inconsistent with its commitments under the JCPoA and to refrain from any further measures that would undermine the preservation and full implementation of the nuclear deal,” she added.
Earlier in the day, Rouhani said his country will begin the fourth step of decreasing its commitments to the 2015 nuclear agreement.
"By tomorrow, we will move towards the fourth step and of course, we are already announcing this to the world and to our friendly countries," he said.
The Iranian president said Tehran on Wednesday will begin gas injection into the Fordow centrifuges.
"Our new activity will be monitored by the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency]," he said.
Rouhani said Iran's moves to scale down its commitments are reversible in case the signatory countries to the nuclear deal fully abide by their commitments.
Iran started to cut its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal in a retaliatory move following the U.S. unilateral decision to withdraw from the agreement between Tehran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany and the EU.
The U.S. has since embarked upon a diplomatic and economic campaign to ramp up pressure on Iran to force it to renegotiate the agreement.
The deal allows Iran to reduce its commitments in case of other parties' breaches. Tehran insists the EU should act more actively regarding the implementation of its part of obligations, saying it will return to the full compliance with the deal once the EU nullifies the U.S. sanctions.
