European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has called for preserving the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, more dialogue between the parties.

According to Middle East Monitor, she said in statements, on Thursday, that “holding dialogue on the basis of clarity and respect is the best way to reach an understanding”, pointing out that the European countries have focused during the past years on maintaining the agreement and respecting all its requirements, and that there is more work to be done.

Mogherini indicated that the joint plan of action (the nuclear deal) was an extension to the UN Security Council resolution, clarifying that it was “not an international or bilateral agreement, but rather a part of a series of resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council.”

U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear deal in May 2018 and returned the previous sanctions and imposed new ones.

So far, Iran has taken two steps in reducing its nuclear commitments: increasing its stockpile of enriched uranium beyond the 300 kilograms allowed under the JCPOA and enriching nuclear fuel to the purity level of 4.5 percent as the Europeans missed a 60-day deadline to devise a concrete mechanism to protect the country from the U.S. sanctions.

Under the agreement, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium to 3.67 percent.

President Hassan Rouhani said on August 14 that Tehran will start the next step of reducing nuclear obligations after the second 60-day deadline.

The third step can include installation of more centrifuges, especially advanced ones.

In an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper published on Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the country will begin suspending more of its commitments under the nuclear deal on September 6.

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