By staff and agency

It is a pity U.S. not honoring JCPOA commitments, French FM says

May 12, 2019 - 19:41

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said that it is a pity that the U.S. is not honoring its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

In an interview published online by Le Parisien on Saturday, Le Drian warned against a “bellicose spiral” of reactions on an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear activities.

The comments came after Iran announced on Wednesday that it will stop implementing some terms of the JCPOA until the remaining signatories to the deal take action to mitigate the negative impacts of the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement.

Le Drian warned that the chain of reactions on the JCPOA could intensify into a “bellicose spiral”.

The top French diplomat described Iran’s decision to suspend sale of excess uranium and heavy water as a “bad reaction” in response to a similar “bad decision” by Washington to not honor its commitments, according to Press TV.

“Iran has had a bad reaction, faced with a bad U.S. decision to withdraw from the Vienna agreements and impose sanctions,” said Le Drian while urging Tehran to “show its political maturity”.

On May 8, Iran officially announced that it stops selling stockpiles of enriched uranium and heavy water for 60 days. However, Iran warned if a conclusion is not reached in this time period, it will take other measures step by step and will accelerate its uranium enrichment activities.

Under the JCPOA, endorsed by the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, Iran was tasked to put limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for termination of economic and financial sanctions. However, since Trump pulled the U.S. out of the JCPOA, the European countries cut banking ties with Iran, stopped purchasing Iranian oil, annulled agreements, and their companies left Iran one after another.

NA/PA

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