Preserving Iran nuclear deal collective responsibility: Borrell

The newly-appointed head of European Union foreign policy Josep Borrell says preserving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, is a “collective responsibility.”

“#JCPOA is crucial for global security & nuclear non-proliferation. We have collective responsibility to preserve #IranDeal,” Borrell tweeted on Saturday.

Borrell, who also serves as vice-president of the European Commission, further expressed his support for the full implementation of the accord, following the Joint Commission on the implementation of JCPOA, which was held in Vienna on Friday to discuss ways to save the accord.

The Joint Commission was chaired by Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Helga Schmid and attended by representatives from Iran and the five remaining signatories to the landmark nuclear deal -- Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.

Borrell also posted a statement issued after the Friday’s meeting in support of the multilateral deal.

In the statement, participants described the JCPOA as a “multilateral achievement and key element of the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture.”

“All participants emphasized the key importance of full and effective implementation by all sides as well as their determination to pursue all efforts to preserve the agreement,” they said.

Europeans will not invoke trigger JCPOA dispute mechanism: China envoy

A Chinese envoy says European parties to the JCPOA did not enact the trigger mechanism at the end of their talks in Vienna.

They further “strongly encouraged Iran to take all the necessary steps towards full implementation of its nuclear commitments,” stressing “the importance to preserve Iran's economic benefits derived from the JCPOA.”

Participants also “reiterated their strong support and collective responsibility for the continuation of key nuclear non-proliferation projects that are an essential part of the JCPOA.”

It was the first meeting by the remaining parties to the JCPOA since July. In May 2018, US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of the international deal, in defiance of global criticism, and later reimposed the sanctions that had been lifted against Tehran as part of the agreement.

In response to the move, Tehran has so far rowed back on its nuclear commitments four times in line with Articles 26 and 36, but stressed that its retaliatory measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield mutual trade from the sanctions.

Since last month, however, the Europeans have raised the possibility of triggering the JCPOA’s “dispute resolution mechanism,” also known as the trigger mechanism, the activation of which could lead to the return of UN sanctions on Iran.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk