TEHRAN – Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said Iran will return to full implementation of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, if Europe guarantees Tehran’s oil sale.

In an interview with ICANA published on Wednesday, Zarif said it is essential that the Europeans guarantee Iran’s oil sale.

In an illegal move the Trump administration in April declared a total ban on Iran’s oil export, the country’s main source of income. 

Upon arrival in Dhaka, Zarif also told reporters that President Hassan Rouhani will announce details of Iran’s third step in reducing commitments under the JCPOA soon.

The third step can include installation of more centrifuges, especially advanced ones which can refine uranium with higher speed.

France has proposed offering Iran about $15 billion in credit lines until year-end if Tehran comes fully back into compliance with the nuclear deal, a move that hinges on Washington not blocking it, according to Reuters.

Zarif told ISNA on Wednesday that Europe needs the U.S. permission to launch the credit line which is regrettable.

On May 8, exactly one year after the United States abandoned the JCPOA and reinstated sanctions on Iran, Iran announced it will start reducing its nuclear commitments. However, Iran has announced if the European Union as a signatory to the deal protects it from the sanctions effect it will reverse its decision.

In follow-up to that deadline, on July 7 Iran announced that it has started enriching uranium to a higher purity than the 3.67% as the Europeans missed the 60-day deadline to devise a concrete mechanism to protect the country from the U.S. sanctions.

In an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper published on August 27, Zarif said the country will begin suspending more of its commitments under the nuclear deal on September 6.

NA/PA