Foreign Ministry slams France's 'unconstructive' JCPOA claims

Foreign Ministry has raised serious objection to the French foreign minister’s comments pointing to Paris’s inclination to bring Iran back under the United Nations sanctions.

“The remarks were irresponsible and unconstructive, and seriously undermine the efficacy of political initiatives, which are aimed at complete implementation of the JCPOA (the 2015 nuclear deal) by all parties in line with the removal of sanctions under the JCPOA and enactments of the Joint [JCPOA] Committee,” Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Thursday.

He was referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the official name of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 group of states comprising the United States, the UK, France, Russia, and China plus Germany.

Mousavi said the French official’s remarks concerning the dispute resolution mechanism came while the logic behind inclusion of the mechanism in the first place dictates that all deal partners be given the chance to take corrective measures -- not punitive action. Therefore, the spokesperson added, the European parties are not allowed under the deal to enact the mechanism in response to Tehran’s legal countermeasures.

Iran has repeatedly asserted that it would roll back all the retaliatory steps it has taken once the European side begins meeting Iran’s business interests as it is contractually obliged.

SS