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German foreign minister warns Iran over nuclear deal
BRUSSELS, Nov 11, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas
warned Tehran over its new uranium enrichment on Monday, threatening to
trigger a dispute mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal, which could open the
way to renewed UN sanctions.
The three European parties to the deal — Germany, France and Britain —
will meet in Paris on Monday to discuss how to respond to Iran stepping back
from its commitments under the accord, Maas said.
Tehran last week resumed enrichment at the underground Fordow plant south
of Tehran in the latest in a series of moves away from the agreement, taken
since Washington’s withdrawal in May last year and reimposition of sanctions.
“We are very concerned to see that there are other uranium enrichments
that Iran has not only announced, but is also carrying out,” Maas said as he
arrived for talks with fellow EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
“We want to preserve the JCPOA but Iran will have to return to his
obligations and comply with them. Otherwise we will reserve for ourselves all
the mechanisms laid down in the agreement.”
The accord, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or
JCPOA, includes a dispute resolution mechanism that goes through various
stages with numerous deadlines.
After a process probably lasting several months, it can eventually
culminate in the UN Security Council voting on whether Iran should still have
relief from sanctions lifted under the deal.
Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia have been trying to salvage the
hard-won agreement and say Iran’s phased suspension of its obligations under
the deal since May makes that more difficult.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1653 hrs