Iran Press/Europe: The European Union’s top diplomat said Tuesday that since the United States has already withdrawn from Iran Nuclear Deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), it can't now use its former membership of the pact to try to impose a permanent arms embargo on the Islamic Republic.
The accord, which Iran signed with the US, Britain, Germany, France, China, and Russia in 2015, has been unraveling since President Donald Trump pulled Washington out in 2018 and reinstated sanctions under what the US called a “maximum pressure” campaign, The Associated Press reported.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft have said that extending a permanent arms embargo against Iran is now a top priority for Washington.
But speaking to reporters Tuesday after talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell insisted that since the US has pulled out of the nuclear deal, it can no longer claim to have a role in it.
“The United States has withdrawn from the JCPOA, and now they cannot claim that they are still part of the JCPOA in order to deal with this issue from the JCPOA agreement. They withdraw. It’s clear. They withdraw,” Borrell said.
On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the Trump administration of unleashing a politically motivated campaign against Iran and he called for “universal condemnation” of the US attempt to get the UN Security Council to impose a permanent arms embargo.
Although the EU has struggled to keep the pact alive despite US pressure, Borrell is tasked with supervising the way the pact is applied and to help resolve disputes between the parties.
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