Iranian pressure on its European partners to counterpoise the US sanctions has increased one month before the end of its third chance given in the joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Tehran is now flagging a high-level violation compared to the first three in the path of its gradual withdrawal from the nuclear deal by reducing commitments.
This step comes after its European partners signaled to resort to a trigger mechanism if Tehran continues to reduce its commitments.
Chairman of the Economic Commission in Iran's Parliament Mohammad Reza Pour-Ebrahimi said Tuesday that his country was determined to reduce its nuclear commitments by taking a fourth step on the path of a gradual withdrawal from the nuclear deal.
He also wondered why Europeans still haven’t taken any “positive” step to preserve the nuclear deal “while demanding that Iran abide by its commitments.”
Ebrahimi said the third step Tehran has announced taking in September “applies to the nuclear deal.” He then addressed the Europeans and Americans and told them his country is “determined” to take the fourth step in reducing its nuclear obligations.
He pointed out that Iran will continue its path if Europeans don’t fulfill their obligations, adding that abiding by the deal’s commitments in light of the current situation is “not logical.”
In Vienna, Iranian ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Kazem Gharib Abadi said his country’s reduction of its nuclear commitments “hasn’t affected its cooperation with the IAEA.”
In a conference held in Vienna, Gharib Abadi denied any impact of Iran's commitment cuts on the “implementation of the Additional Protocol,” which allows IAEA inspectors to enter into Iranian nuclear facilities and verify Iran's compliance with terms of the agreement.
Iranian agencies have quoted Gharib Abadi as saying that after the United States withdrew from the nuclear agreement, it exerted the “maximum pressure to destroy the deal and resolution (2231) and vowed to punish others immediately in case they fulfill their obligations under the agreement and the UN resolution.”
He noted that Iran remained in the nuclear deal after the US withdrawal as a result of promises given by the agreement’s other leaders to compensate US sanctions.
The Iranian ambassador also pointed out that his country hasn’t yet attain any results despite its decision to implement articles (260 and (36) of the deal.
