TEHRAN – Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday that Iran may revert its decision to take the next step in reducing commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with MPs sitting on the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Zarif said if the Europeans take action in implementing their obligations based on the JCPOA, Iran may revert its decision to take the “third step”.

However, he warned, if the Europeans do not take the necessary actions by Thursday, Iran will announce taking the third step in reducing its commitments.

“The government’s suggestions for the third step are clear and I will announce it officially as soon as the final decision is taken,” the chief diplomat said.

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.

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, Zarif said the country will begin suspending more of its commitments under the nuclear deal on September 6.

NA/PA