BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th July, 2020) The E3 group of countries comprised of Germany, France and the United Kingdom has expressed its commitment to preserving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the German Foreign Office said on Saturday, reaffirming readiness to have a constructive dialogue with Tehran.
On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sent a letter to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, denouncing the EU three's non-compliance with the JCPOA after it drafted an anti-Iran resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board meeting in late June, demanding Iran to allow IAEA inspectors access to its nuclear facilities. Borrell, in turn, called on the parties to the Iranian nuclear deal to show goodwill in resolving disagreements within the framework of the JCPOA.
"Together with France and the United Kingdom, we reaffirm our full commitment to the preservation of the JCPoA. As E3 we have fulfilled our JCPoA commitments without exception, in particular the lifting of sanctions. In our efforts to preserve the nuclear agreement, we even have even gone beyond our commitments in order to maintain legitimate trade with Iran," the office said in a statement.
The E3 nations added they had initiated a dialogue with Iran and the remaining JCPOA participants based on a meaningful and realistic approach and were awaiting a constructive Iranian response to their efforts.
"We reaffirm once again our readiness to work determinedly to preserve the nuclear Agreement," the statement read.
Iran signed the JCPOA with China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK, the US, and the European Union in 2015. According to the terms of the agreement, Iran would scale back its nuclear program and cut uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief. Washington pulled out of the deal in 2018 and promptly levied punitive sanctions on Tehran. Iran retaliated by reducing compliance with the deal in several steps. The "fifth and final" step was taken early this year when Iran removed restrictions placed on the number of centrifuges installed its uranium enrichment sites in Natanz and Fordow.
