TEHRAN — The triggering of the dispute mechanism under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) does not mean referring Iran’s case to the UN Security Council, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday.

“The dispute mechanism does not mean referring Iran’s case to the Security Council. What Europe has done is triggering the dispute mechanism according to article 36. We believe that Europe cannot trigger this mechanism because we have triggered it and finished it,” Araghchi said, according to Mehr.

France, Britain, and Germany confirmed on January 14 that they had triggered the dispute mechanism in the JCPOA, also known as the Iran nuclear deal, but said they were not joining the United States campaign to exert maximum pressure on Tehran.

Russia has announced that it sees no grounds to trigger the dispute mechanism, saying the activation of this mechanism may make it impossible to return to the implementation of the agreement.

China has also expressed regret over the decision, saying it will not help solve the issues or ease current tensions.

“Russia and China also agree with us and we believe that Europe cannot use this article,” Araghchi said. “Reducing our commitments was a compensatory measure and Europe cannot take a compensatory measure against our move.”

He said nothing has happened yet, but added that the Islamic Republic will make appropriate decisions in due time.

The JCPOA was struck between Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council members — the United States, Russia, China, France, and the UK — as well as Germany and the European Union.

The accord came under increasing strain ever since U.S. President Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from it in May 2018 and unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against Iran despite worldwide objections.

On May 8, exactly one year after the U.S. abandoned the deal, Tehran announced that its “strategic patience” is over and began to partially reduce its commitments to the agreement at bi-monthly steps.

Eventually, in its fifth and final step on January 5, Iran suspended all limits under the JCPOA.

MH/PA