As initiator of chaos, US must take 1st step to revive Iran deal: MEP

A member of the European Parliament (MEP) has blamed the United States for the chaotic situation surrounding the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major world states, saying Washington bears the responsibility to take the first step towards reviving the accord.

Speaking to Qatar-based Al Jazeera television news network on Wednesday, Cornelia Ernst, a German MEP from the leftist Die Linke party, said Iran has not violated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Thus, she added, the first step to resurrect the agreement should come from the US because it is the party that caused the chaos by unilaterally abandoning the deal.

The JCPOA was reached between Iran and a group of countries then known as the P5+1 — which included the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany — in July 2015. It was ratified in the form of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

However, in May 2018, then-US president Donald Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of the JCPOA and re-imposed the sanctions that had been lifted under the UN-endorsed deal.

Iran remained fully compliant with the JCPOA for an entire year, as verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), waiting for the co-signatories to honor their commitments and offset the impacts of the US withdrawal.

But, as the European parties continued to renege on their obligations, the Islamic Republic moved in May 2019 to suspend some of its JCPOA commitments under articles of the deal covering Tehran’s legal rights in case of non-compliance by the other side.

Under a law passed in December 2020 by the Iranian Parliament, the country is expected to scale back more commitments in the coming weeks, including ending the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol and limiting nuclear inspections, if the sanctions remain in place.

The new administration of US President Joe Biden says Iran should move first to restart the JCPOA.

However, Tehran says it will retrace its nuclear countermeasures once the US lifts its sanctions in a manner that could be verifiable by Tehran.

Iran will reverse nuclear steps only if US lifts sanctions first: Leader

Iran’s Leader says the country will retrace its nuclear countermeasures once the United States lifts its sanctions in a verifiable manner.

Elsewhere in her interview, Ernst described the JCPOA as one of the most important deals that have been agreed in recent years and said it must be protected.

The JCPOA could be activated through America’s return while Iran should at the same time retreat from the 20-percent uranium enrichment, she noted.

The MEP also urged Tehran not to withdraw from the Additional Protocol, which provides inspectors with wide-ranging access to information on Iran’s nuclear activities.

The Europeans' decision to maintain sanctions against Iran is a wrong policy, Ernst further said, calling for an end to the arms race in the Middle East.

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