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IRAN-NUCLEAR-DIPLOMACY-EU LEAD
EU ‘concerned’ by Iran nuclear enrichment announcement
BRUSSELS, Nov 5, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The European Union voiced concern
Tuesday at Iran’s announcement that it would resume uranium enrichment at an
underground plant, warning it is getting harder to preserve the 2015 nuclear
deal.
An EU spokeswoman said it was becoming “increasingly difficult” to save
the accord, which was abandoned by the US in May last year and which Iran has
undercut with a series of recent moves to step up its nuclear activities.
After the US ditched the deal, it reimposed crippling sanctions, prompting
Iran to begin suspending its own commitments.
President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that Iran would restart enrichment at
the Fordow plant south of Tehran.
“We are concerned by President Rouhani’s announcement today to further
reduce Iran’s commitments under the JCPOA,” EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic
told reporters, using an abbreviation for the deal’s official title, the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
“We urge Iran to reverse all activities that are inconsistent with its
commitments under the JCPOA and to refrain from any further measures that
would undermine the preservation and full implementation of the nuclear
deal.”
The three European parties to the accord — France, Britain and Germany —
along with the EU diplomatic service have tried to keep Iran in the deal
despite the US sanctions.
But, to Tehran’s mounting frustration, European efforts to create a way for
foreign firms to keep trading with Iran have so far failed to have any
significant impact.
Kocijancic said the EU remained committed to the deal but warned this
depended on “full compliance” from Iran.
“High Representative Federica Mogherini said herself recently it is
becoming increasingly difficult to preserve the JCPOA,” Kocijancic warned.
– Iranian pressure –
EU foreign ministers will discuss the nuclear crisis along with the broader
tensions in the Gulf at a regular meeting in Brussels on Monday, though no
decision or formal statement on the matter is expected.
A key factor for EU countries is the assessment of Iran’s latest actions by
the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which oversees Tehran’s
nuclear activities.
Rouhani’s statement did not make it clear exactly what process would
resume at Fordow on Wednesday, and the bloc will look to the IAEA for
clarification.
Iran has sought to ratchet up the pressure on the European parties to the
deal to do more to help its economy, which is struggling with the US
sanctions, and officials in Brussels see this week’s announcements as part of
this pattern.
“They haven’t really changed their approach. They are provocative but the
measures they have taken up to now are reversible,” one EU official said.
“But the longer they push it, this reversibility is going to disappear,” the
official warned.
The JCPOA, agreed in 2015 between Iran, the three European powers, Russia,
China and the US, includes a mechanism for dealing with breaches, but so far
this has not been used.
BSS/AFP/ARS/2006 hrs