Iran deal: Trump after announcing his disapproval of the deal. Europe has decided to stick to the deal with Iran on its nuclear programme without US support. The lifting of sanctions under the deal prompted a rush of European corporations to do business in Iran. These are now lobbying their governments to prevent the dismantlement of the deal and are hoping that Iran may continue to adhere to its conditions if Europe refrained from reimposing sanctions. The deal’s non-US signatories, which include Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and Iran, have decided to stick to the deal without US participation. Such a decision could still have severe implications for transatlantic relations at a time when Trump has already faced open disagreement and anger from many of his allies over defence spending, trade, climate change and other issues.
European Union (EU) leaders have voiced their commitment to the Iran nuclear deal and its full implementation by all sides, despite US President Donald Trump’s decision to decertify Iran’s compliance with the deal.
The leaders of France, Germany and Britain, in a joint statement issued by 10 Downing Street on Friday, said they were concerned by the possible implications of Trump’s decision, urging the US Administration and Congress to consider the implications to the security of the US and its allies “before taking any steps that might undermine the JCPoA, such as re-imposing sanctions on Iran lifted under the agreement”, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), was the culmination of 13 years of diplomacy and was “a major step” towards ensuring that Iran’s nuclear programme is not diverted for military purposes, the statement stressed.
Noting that the JCPoA was unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council in Resolution 2231, the leaders of the EU trio said the International Atomic Energy Agency “has repeatedly confirmed Iran’s compliance with the JCPoA” through its long-term verification and monitoring program.
“Our governments are committed to ensuring the JCPoA is maintained,” the joint statement said.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the three countries also said they “share concerns about Iran’s ballistic missile programme and regional activities that also affect our European security interests.”
“We stand ready to take further appropriate measures to address these issues in close cooperation with the US and all relevant partners. We look to Iran to engage in constructive dialogue to stop de-stabilising actions and work towards negotiated solutions,” they added in the statement.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed regret over Trump’s decision to decertify Iran’s compliance with a nuclear deal, arguing that Tehran strictly abides by the landmark agreement.
Israel has, however, welcomed Trump’s decision to not certify the landmark nuclear deal with Iran and also hailed his remarks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Trump’s remarks on Friday as a “courageous decision”, Xinhua reported.
Saudi Arabian government has also welcomed the firm new strategy towards Iran announced by Trump.
Following Trump’s announcement that he had decided not to certify Iran’s compliance with the landmark deal, EU Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini said the EU will continue to fully implement the Iran nuclear deal.
“It’s not a bilateral agreement. It does not belong to any single country. It’s not up to any single country to terminate it,” said Mogherini at a press conference.
“We cannot afford… to dismantle a nuclear agreement this is working and delivering,” she said, stressing the IAEA has verified eight times that Iran is implementing all its nuclear-related commitments.
“The US’ domestic process — and I underline domestic — following today’s announcement of President Trump is now in the hands of the United States’ Congress. The JCPOA is not a domestic issue but a United Nations Security Council Resolution,” the EU Foreign Policy chief stressed.
“The European Union continues to fully support the Iran nuclear deal, and the full and strict implementation of all its provisions by all parties,” said Mogherini.
The Iran nuclear deal, or the JCPOA, was reached in 2015 between Iran and Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany.
The EU also played an important role in brokering the deal and deemed it as one of the bloc’s outstanding diplomatic achievements.
Trump announced on Friday that he had decided to decertify Iran’s compliance with the landmark deal.
“I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification,” Trump said at the White House as he unveiled a new Iran strategy of his administration.
Despite his criticism of Iran and the Iran nuclear deal, Trump on Friday stopped short of abandoning the nuclear deal.
Instead, he said he was directing his administration to work with Congress and US allies to address “the deal’s many serious flaws,” including “insufficient enforcement and near-total silence on Iran’s missile programs”.
In case the efforts fail, Trump warned that “then the (Iran nuclear) agreement will be terminated”.
The decertification would not pull the US out of the Iran nuclear deal at the moment, but it would open a 60-day window in which US Congress could reimpose nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, a step which would mean the violation of the deal on the US side.
The UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has again confirmed that Iran has been implementing the Iran nuclear deal under the robust nuclear verification regime.
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said on Friday that Tehran was co-operating with the agency to implement the commitment to be undertaken by Tehran, Xinhua news agency reported.
“Iran is now provisionally implementing the Additional Protocol to its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA, a powerful verification tool which gives our inspectors broader access to information and locations in Iran,” said Amano.
Under the Iranian nuclear deal reached in 2015, IAEA is asked to verify if Iran meets its commitment to scale back its nuclear program and gives more transparency of its atomic plan.
“As I have reported to the Board of Governors, the nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran under the JCPOA are being implemented,” he said.
US President Donald Trump has condemned Iran as a “fanatical regime” and refused to continue certifying an international nuclear deal.
Reacting to it, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Trump cannot decertify Iran’s international nuclear deal “unilaterally”.
“Iran’s nuclear deal is a multilateral deal and cannot be removed by the president of one country,” Rouhani said in the live broadcast of the state TV, following Trump’s aggressive remarks on Iran, Xinhua reported.
“Trump’s remarks showed that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is stronger than what he treated during his presidential campaign,” Rouhani said, adding that the US President failed to ally other parties involved in the clinch of deal with his policy over the nuclear deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Trump’s remarks on Friday as a “courageous decision”, Xinhua news agency reported.
In a video statement released by the Prime Minister’s office, Netanyahu said the move has created an opportunity to “fix this bad deal” and to struggle against Iran’s aggression.
He added that he wishes other world powers would follow the US.
Netanyahu has been a vocal opponent of the 2015 deal, which cancelled sanctions on Iran in return for concessions regarding its nuclear program.
The Prime Minister has charged that the agreement fails to halt Iran’s support for Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shiite militia, and Israel’s arch-foe.
Israel’s Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz praised Trump’s move as an important step towards “fixing some of the flaws in the dangerous nuclear agreement”.
“The deal in its current form will allow Iran to develop a nuclear capability in the not so distant future,” Katz said in a statement, adding that the deal provides Iran with “a kind of an insurance policy until then.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry has expressed regret over the decision of US President Donald Trump.
“The Russian Foreign Ministry emphasizes the inadmissibility of using aggressive and threatening rhetoric in international relations,” it said in a statement on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.
Attempts to use such methods to solve foreign policy problems affecting the fundamental security interests of other countries are doomed to failure, it said.
“Iran strictly adheres to its obligations, which is regularly confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency,” the statement read.
The JCPOA, which is multilateral and supported by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, has already contributed to the strengthening of international peace and security and the creation of a more predictable atmosphere in the Middle East, according to the Russian ministry.
Russia remains committed to the JCPOA and will continue to fulfil its obligations under it, said the ministry, calling on all other participants to do the same. (IANS)