TEHRAN– Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the country is not leaving the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, adding that the JCPOA preserves the right for Iran to “diminish its commitments” in case of violation by other parties.

“Unfortunately, the European Union and other members of the international community were not capable of standing up to the US’ pressures,” Zarif said late on Tuesday upon his arrival in the Russian capital Moscow where he is scheduled to discuss the JCPOA.

Therefore, he added, Iran has decided to stop implementing some of the JCPOA commitments it used to fulfill voluntarily “for now”.

The Iranian top diplomat said the right to stop implementing commitments partially or in full in case of violation by other parties has been preserved for Iran in the JCPOA.

So Iran is not doing anything against JCPOA now; rather, it is acting totally within the framework of Articles 26 and 36 of the deal, Zarif added.

He described the move as “an opportunity for other parties to the deal to take required measures, and not just issue statements.”

Iran said on Monday it seeks to unveil its countermeasures in response to the US’ 2018 withdrawal from the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement signed between Tehran and six major world powers.

A source at the French presidency said on Tuesday international sanctions could be re-imposed on Iran if it reneges on commitments under its nuclear deal.

"We do not want Tehran to announce tomorrow actions that would violate the nuclear agreement, because in this case we Europeans would be obliged to re-impose sanctions as per the terms of the agreement," the source said.

(Source: Tasnim)