TEHRAN – Iran’s ambassador to Spain has said although the European Union has always been supporting the 2015 nuclear deal it has done nothing tangible in the face of repressive U.S. sanctions, IRNA reported on Sunday.

In line with his “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, former President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal in May 2018 and slapped the harshest sanctions in history against Iran.

As a signatory to the nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Europe failed to resist U.S. sanctions against Iran.

“Though from a political point of view the European Union has been always supporting the JCPOA, it has done no practical action in the face of the oppressive sanctions of the Trump administration,” Hassan Qashqavi told a group of Spanish professors and students at the Foundation for Strategic and International Studies.

Since April the remaining parties to the JCPOA (Iran, the EU, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China) and the U.S. under the Biden administration have started talks to revive the JCPOA. However, after six rounds of negotiations the sides have failed to restore the nuclear pact endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

“To show its goodwill Iran entered talks with the Western sides about six months ago with the aim of a complete cancellation of sanctions, but unfortunately due to the wrong approach of the former U.S. administration the negotiations have so far not borne results,” Ambassador Qashqavi stated. 

PA/PA