JCPOA signatories call for its preservation

The 14th Joint Commission of the Iran nuclear agreement (JCPOA) was held on Friday in Vienna in which the participants reiterated Iran's compliance with its commitments and the 2015 deal's preservation as a multilateral achievement.

Iran Press/Europe: "Participants acknowledged Iran's compliance with its nuclear commitments for 14 months following the regrettable withdrawal of the United States from the agreement, and the re-imposition of US sanctions that did not allow Iran to reap the full benefits arising from sanctions lifting," read a statement issued by EU Secretary General Helga Schmid who co-chaired the meeting.

The Joint Commission is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the agreement and was attended by the E3+2 (China, France, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom) and Iran at the level of political directors/deputy foreign ministers.

The meeting supported the key role played by the IAEA in monitoring and verifying the implementation of Iran’s nuclear commitments under the JCPOA and UN Security Council resolution 2231 (2015), and "Participants … welcomed continued efforts by the Arak Working Group Co-Chairs, China, and the United Kingdom, in taking the Arak Modernisation Project forward," it said.

"Participants welcomed the decision by the governments of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway to join INSTEX, including the perspective to open it in due course to economic operators from third countries. INSTEX aims at facilitating legitimate trade with Iran to support the needs of the Iranian population."

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi who co-chaired the meeting with Schmid said all the delegates agreed that the unilateral decision of the US to withdraw from JCPOA was the root cause of tension in implementation of the deal.

"All members stressed that without Iran's using of JCPOA's advantages, it was not possible to continue with the international agreement," he told reporters after the conclusion of the meeting.

The Iranian official also termed his first meeting with the new IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi was very fruitful.

"The new director general stressed that IAEA's of the global agency with Iran shall continue," he said.

The one-day meeting in Vienna came a month after Tehran entered the fourth step of reducing its commitments under the JCPOA following the May 8 decision of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran which was in wake of US withdrawal in 2018.

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