Russia, France, Germany defend JCPOA, support trade with Iran

The leaders of Russia, France and Germany have underscored the need to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, stressing their commitment to boosting trade ties with the Islamic Republic despite the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from the accord.

The Kremlin said in a statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron had voiced support for the agreement during a phone conversation on Tuesday.

“During the discussion of the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program, the importance of preserving this agreement, which is a key factor in maintaining international stability and security, was noted. Russia, France and Germany reaffirmed their commitment to further mutually beneficial cooperation with Iran in trade and economy,” the statement read.

Merkel’s office also confirmed that the trio had “underlined the need to persuade Iran to remain in the nuclear agreement, which they agreed to maintain.”

Last year, US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of the JCPOA and unleashed the "toughest ever" sanctions against Tehran despite international objections.

Since then, Washington has been trying to coerce the European parties into following its lead and scrapping the multilateral accord.

The cosignatories have vowed efforts to compensate for Washington’s absence and make sure that Iran will be able to collect its economic dividends of the deal.

Tehran, however, complains that they have failed to take practical measures to fulfill their end of the bargain despite Iran’s full compliance.

On May 8, the first anniversary of Washington’s exit from the JCPOA, Iran announced its decision to stop exporting excess uranium and heavy water for a 60-day period, during which the remaining signatories would have to honor their promises and ensure that Iran is no more deprived of the economic benefits it was promised under the agreement.

Russia hails Iran’s ‘responsible attitude’

In another development on Tuesday, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna said that the nuclear agreement is still in place largely due to Iran’s “responsible attitude.”

“For now nobody can say that the nuclear deal with Iran is dead,” Mikhail Ulyanov said. “It’s one year since the US pullout from the JCPOA, but the agreement remains effective, largely because the Iranians have taken a very responsible attitude. They adhere to it scrupulously. As for the other part of the deal, which is expected to serve as an incentive for implementing the nuclear part, it has been nearly ruined.”

He also noted that the Iranians had “preferred to act with high precision” by suspending some of their commitments under the accord and giving the other parties two months to make the situation right, adding that Tehran’s decisions “do not entail any JCPOA violations.”

“This is easy to understand by and large, because the deal properly does reserve such a right for the Iranians: to terminate compliance with either the JCPOA altogether, or with some of its provisions in case of other participants’ default on the agreement,” Ulyanov said.

The Russian envoy further complained about Washington’s threats of sanctions against other countries doing business with Tehran.

“The main problem is the United States has not only stopped complying with the JCPOA, but has been trying to create hindrances to quite legal economic transactions by other countries. In fact, it uses the threat of sanctions to block what was authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 2231,” he said, referring to the resolution that endorsed the Iran deal.

“This is utter outrage in the international scene. It’s piracy and arbitrariness which has no legal grounds to rely on,” he added.

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