Iranian Foreign Minister: Europe not ready to save nuclear deal

Since the US withdrew from the agreement, European countries have implemented a system of trade with Iran limited to food and medicines.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks during a news conference in Istanbul, Turkey, October 30, 2018 (photo credit: MURAD SEZER/REUTERS)
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks during a news conference in Istanbul, Turkey, October 30, 2018
(photo credit: MURAD SEZER/REUTERS)
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has lambasted European leaders over their failure in attempts to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as the 2015 Iran nuclear deal is known, whilst Iran continues to enrich uranium beyond the limits agreed upon.
Zarif spoke to the media in New York, where he was attending a meeting at the United Nations and said, “The Europeans claim they were willing to maintain the JCPOA, but we have not seen Europe yet to be ready for an investment.”
Since the withdrawal of the United States from the JCPOA, Iran has been hit hard by US economic sanctions targeting its oil industry. China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union, the other parties of the deal, have yet to apply serious sanctions in response to Iran's enrichment of uranium.
Just days after Iran publicly declared that it had enriched uranium beyond the deal's limit of 3.67% purity, passing 4.5%, the European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the five remaining parties to the nuclear deal do not see Tehran's breaches as significant non-compliance.
Since the US withdrew from the agreement, European countries have implemented a system of trade with Iran limited to food and medicines.
When asked about potentially saving the deal, Zarif said that talking about saving “is totally different from being ready to make the investments required to save that deal and the Europeans have not done that yet.”
Zarif also claimed that the US stance against Iran had isolated it from international allies, saying “In all these meetings, the US’ unilateral policies have been condemned; now it’s time for Washington to return to the international community.”