TEHRAN— In a meeting with the German Ambassador in Tehran late on Monday, Iranian Vice President for Legal Affairs Mohammad Dehqan harshly condemned the three European countries (France, the United Kingdom, and Germany) for their passive approach in fulfilling their responsibilities under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"While the U.S. was breaking the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, European signatories basically stood idle by and watched its transgressions," Dehqan lamented.

"The U.S. is at fault for the JCPOA's violation, and we expected Europe, particularly Germany, to play an active role in this regard." 

The JCPOA was an international agreement that was endorsed by the United Nations Security Council while Europe simply watched its violations, he noted.

"History will not be kind to Europeans," he added.

Dehqan stressed that Iran has always embraced negotiations and has never walked away from them.

"In the past, we attempted to avoid international concerns by remaining unilaterally compliant with the JCPOA. We are still hopeful that a balanced compromise will be reached following the inauguration of the new German administration and through more active engagement of Europeans in the Vienna talks, according to Iran's vice president.

In similar remarks earlier this week, Iran's chief negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani stated that the JCPOA is still alive due to Tehran’s responsible actions, adding that "dishonest" reports from outside the negotiation room cannot diminish Tehran's determination to negotiate a good deal in Vienna.

"Dishonest reports from outside the negotiation room will not undermine our will to strike a settlement that secures our nation's rights and interests," Bagheri Kani wrote on Twitter.

His remarks come as talks between Iran and the five remaining signatories to the 2015 nuclear agreement are continuing, with the goal of ending sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Iran following Washington's exit from the pact and reviving the dormant treaty.

Iran’s chief negotiator also mentioned his cordial meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, stating that he repeated Iran's "seriousness and good intent" in the Vienna discussions.

Meanwhile, the Russian lead negotiator has stated that during the talks, Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties (Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany) are working on the text of a "final document."

"It will take time and a lot of effort, but participants are result-oriented," said Russian Ambassador to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov in a tweet on Friday.

Since April, Vienna has hosted talks to resurrect the JCPOA, which would require the U.S. to lift anti-Iran sanctions more than three years after Washington violated the global accord and illegally imposed penalties on Iran to kill the deal.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that all participants in the discussions have indicated a renewed commitment to restoring the JCPOA in its original form. "All parties underlined their intention to exert utmost effort in order to finally define practical steps required to re-launch the extensive implementation of JCPOA in its original form, without amendments or deletions."

It was also stated that Iran and the P4+1 group agreed to maintain intense contacts, especially at the expert level, within the framework of working groups on the elimination of U.S. sanctions and nuclear concerns.