TEHRAN – Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl has said that the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal was an “unprecedented” move from legal point of view, IRNA reported on Saturday.

Writing an article in a Swiss newspaper, Kneissl said the U.S. sought to completely dismantle the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
 
A signatory who leaves a multilateral agreement has not right to fine other sides for implementing the deal, she said.

However, she noted that the remaining signatories are currently determined to continue implementing the JCPOA.

Elsewhere, she said that collapse of the nuclear deal will undermine trust in international relations.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Washington’s exit from the 2015 nuclear deal on May 8 and said sanctions will be restored against Iran.

According to the U.S. Treasury, the first batch of sanctions will be snapped back on August 6. The second round of sanctions which includes oil sanctions will return on November 4.

To save the multilateral agreement, the Joint Commission of the JCPOA met at the foreign ministerial level in Vienna on July 6. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who chaired the meeting, announced that Iran and the remaining parties had agreed to continue negotiations, including on economic measures, over how to keep the deal alive.

Iran has demanded that the EU package to save the JCPOA should address various sectors, including oil, gas, and insurance and banking services.

NA/PA