JCPOA participants must preserve deal, avoid fruitless disputes: Russia diplomat

Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna has warned participants to the landmark Iran nuclear deal against engaging in “fruitless and potentially damaging disputes,” urging them to do their best to preserve the agreement.

Mikhail Ulyanov made the remarks in a tweet on Monday in clear reference to efforts made by the three European signatories to the Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), to trigger the deal’s dispute resolution mechanism (DRM) and a similar decision recently taken by Iran.

“#E3 and #Iran try to launch from different perspectives Dispute Resolution Mechanism. Not a good idea,” the Russian diplomat said, advising all parties to the JCPOA “to think together how to preserve the nuclear deal, which is in a very bad shape,” instead of engaging in “fruitless and potentially damaging disputes of this kind."

It was in mid-January that Germany, Britain and France said they planned to trigger the dispute resolution mechanism, which could restore UN Security Council sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Reuters cited unnamed European diplomats as saying that the trio would notify the European Union that they were triggering the dispute resolution mechanism whose subsequent mechanism can ultimately lead to a “snapback,” which refers to the re-imposition of anti-Iran sanctions in place under previous UN resolutions.

In early July, the EU foreign policy chief said he had received a letter from Iran that demanded triggering the JCPOA's dispute resolution mechanism over the failure of the three European signatories to the agreement to honor their commitments.

Josep Borrell added that the letter written by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif underlined Iran's concerns regarding implementation issues on the part of France, Germany and Britain to the Joint Commission of the deal for resolution through the dispute process set out in the agreement's Paragraph 36.

EU's Borrell: Iran triggers dispute mechanism in nuclear deal

The EU foreign policy chief says he received a letter from Iran that demands triggering the dispute resolution mechanism of the 2015 nuclear deal over the failure of the three European signatories to the accord to honor their commitments.

In an earlier tweet on July 4, Ulyanov had noted that his country’s “principled position” is that “all #JCPOA implementation issues must be settled within the framework of the Joint Commission.”

“#Iran requested the Joint Commission of #JCPOA to address Tehran’s concerns regarding implementation of the deal by France, Germany and UK through Dispute Resolution Mechanism,” he said in another tweet the same day.

“This is the third time when JCPOA participants try to launch DRM which lacks clear and agreed procedure,” Ulyanov added.

The international nuclear deal had been reached between Iran and the P5+1 group -- the US, Britain, France, Russia and China plus Germany -- in 2015. However, in May 2018, US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of the JCPOA and later re-imposed the sanctions that had been lifted against Tehran and began unleashing the “toughest ever” fresh sanctions.

Read more:

• Iran says has triggered JCPOA dispute mechanism ‘six times’
• Iran envy implies US failed to forge consensus for anti-Iran resolution at UNSC
• Russia slams Europe’s dual standards on JCPOA, ‘destructive’ US actions

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