TEHRAN – There is a unanimity among the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, to counter illegal moves by the U.S. to return UN sanctions against Iran, says Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi who represented Iran at the JCPOA Joint Commission meeting in Vienna on Tuesday.

Araghchi told Nour News that the Joint Commission meeting was “constructive” and the participants agreed that they must counter the unlawful acts by the U.S., which quit the JCPOA in May 2018 and imposed the harshest sanctions on Iran.

“This meeting was held in a situation created after the recent developments at the [UN] Security Council and the United States’ illegal action. The focal point of the discussions at the meeting was the necessity of integrity and unity against the United States’ action,” Araqchi explained.

He added that participants insisted that Washington had quit the JCPOA in 2018 and cannot restore sanctions against Iran through snapback mechanism.

Elsewhere, Araghchi said that the only way to preserve the JCPOA is that Iran benefit from the dividends of the 2015 deal.

Practical steps should be taken in this respect, added Araghchi who acted as one of the main writers of the nuclear agreement with the 5+1 group and the European Union.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced that all UN sanctions against Iran will be reinstated on September 20 after the U.S. “activated the snapback mechanism”. 

However, the claim was strongly denounced by other signatories of the nuclear deal including Iran, the EU, Russia, China, and non-permanent members of the UN Security Council.

NA/PA