Iran: EU plan to leave JCPOA 'illegal', snap-back mechanism 'dead'

Iran has dismissed its nuclear case being sent back to the UN Security Council should the country go ahead with its pledge to take new steps away from the 2015 deal in response to European failures.

According to Press TV, the reaction by Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi on Monday came after a British paper said the European Union had told Iran that it would start withdrawing from the nuclear deal in November if Tehran further forwent its commitments. 

According to The Guardian, this would trigger the deal's dispute mechanism and if necessary a worldwide sanctions snap-back would occur, where Iran's case would be sent back to the Security Council.

The Council removed the case from its docket when it endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and the P5+1 group of world countries on July 14, 2015.

Speaking to reporters in Tehran, Mousavi said Iran's referral to the Security Council again is "dead and from the legal standpoint, there is no possibility of Europe using the snap-back mechanism."

Iran has already taken three separate calibrated steps away from the deal, and has warned it will take a fourth in November unless the Europeans do something about their obligation to protect Tehran from US sanctions. 

The Europeans have, instead, told Iran that they would put the issue of Iran's further moves into the agreement’s formal dispute mechanism if the next Iranian move away from the deal were significant, The Guardian reported on Friday.

Mousavi described Europe's alleged plan to withdraw from the JCPOA as "illegal."  He also criticized the Europeans for not being able to separate their foreign policy from that of Washington.

Under President Donald Trump, the US has adopted a campaign of "maximum pressure" on Iran after withdrawing from the nuclear deal and reimposing sanctions on the country. 

Iran has responded to the US withdrawal and the reluctance of European signatories to protect Tehran from Washington’s sanctions by reciprocally suspending its own nuclear commitments as allowed under the JCPOA. 

ME