TEHRAN - The 2015 nuclear deal will be back on track only if the U.S. lifts the sanctions on Iran and all parties to the multilateral agreement, including Europeans, meet their commitments, President Hassan Rouhani said in a meeting with visiting Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney.

The 2015 nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed between Iran, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany, and the European Union.

Based on the JCPOA, confirmed by UN Security Council Resolution 2231, Iran agreed to put limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for termination of economic and financial sanctions. 

The Iranian president also criticized Europe’s inaction and failure to honor the nuclear deal, saying, “The Islamic Republic of Iran has been committed to the JCPOA and saved it, and is the only party that has paid a price for it.”

Rouhani also reiterated that Iran will resume implementing all its commitments to the JCPOA fully as soon as the U.S. lifts the illegal sanctions and abandons the policy of threats and pressure.

Pointing to Ireland’s membership in the UN Security Council and the European country’s evenhanded approach, Rouhani stressed, “The Security Council should have acted properly against the previous U.S. administration because of its violation of the Resolution (2231).”

Rouhani also said his country is ready to cooperate with international organizations to settle regional crises, suggesting that the best way to work with Europeans to resolve the problems at bilateral, regional, and international levels is “negotiations on the basis of mutual respect and avoidance of any threat and pressure.”

 “Historic mistake”

For his part, Coveney noted Ireland, as a member of the UN Security Council for the next two years, can facilitate implementation of the JCPOA in line with Resolution 2231.

Deploring the former U.S. administration’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal as a “historic mistake”, the Irish foreign minister described the JCPOA as a valuable international agreement contributing to peace.

Ireland would do its utmost to save the JCPOA and is ready to play any possible role to ameliorate the situation and restart negotiations among all JCPOA parties, Coveney pointed out.

In remarks in February, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei asserted Iran will resume honoring the JCPOA in full only after the U.S. has lifted all sanctions on Iran in a practical and verifiable manner.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled Washington out of the JCPOA in May 2018 and reinstated the sanctions that had been removed by the accord and added new ones.

In May 2019, Iran began to scale back its JCPOA commitments after the remaining European parties, including Europeans, failed to meet their end of the bargain and compensate for Washington’s sanctions.