Rouhani to Macron: Failure to seize chances of saving Iran deal to complicate impasse
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called on the parties to the 2015 nuclear deal not to miss the remaining chances to revive the landmark agreement, warning that any “unconstructive” move at the UN nuclear watchdog’s upcoming board meeting will complicate the stalemate surrounding the accord.
“Any unconstructive move or stance at the [International Atomic Energy Agency’s] Board of Governors can lead to new challenges and complicate the existing situation,” Rouhani said in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, Press TV reported.
The IAEA’S 35-nation Board of Governors is holding a quarterly meeting this week against the backdrop of efforts to preserve the multilateral nuclear agreement — officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — that former US president, Donald Trump, abandoned.
The three European parties to the JCPOA — Britain, France and Germany — have reportedly circulated a Us-backed draft resolution for the upcoming meeting voicing “serious concern” at Iran’s reduced cooperation and urging Iran to reverse the steps it has taken away from the deal in response to the US withdrawal and the reimposition of the sanctions that the accord had lifted.
Iran has warned against the adoption of the anti-iran resolution, with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif saying that the Islamic Republic has some options to take in case “reason does not prevail” on the other side.
Rouhani said Iran first decided to gradually scale back its JCPOA commitments due to the US withdrawal and the three European parties’ failure to fulfill their obligations as per the deal.
He, however, emphasized that Iran’s remedial measures will be immediately reversed if the opposite sides comply with their obligations.
Although Iran stopped implementing the Additional Protocol to the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) as required by a law adopted last December, “Our cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency still continues and we have never exited the JCPOA,” the Iranian president stated.
As the US refrained from lifting sanctions before the February 21 deadline set by Tehran, Iran announced that the country stopped the voluntary implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement that allowed the IAEA to carry out short-notice inspections of the country’s nuclear facilities.
The halt came under the Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions, a law passed last December by the Iranian Parliament requiring the administration to tighten its retaliatory measures.
On the day of the deadline, however, Tehran and the IAEA reached “a temporary
bilateral technical understanding”, as part of which the UN nuclear watchdog would continue its “necessary verification and monitoring activities for a period of up to three months”.
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said the Islamic Republic had agreed to keep recording information on its inspection equipment for three months without granting the IAEA access.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani described France as an “important player” and said “Tehran-paris relations can be developed based on a sustainable viewpoint and with long-term goals for common bilateral, regional and international cooperation.”
He stressed the need for collective cooperation among all countries across the globe to battle the coronavirus pandemic and said the US “cruel and illegal” sanctions on Iran have impeded the country’s fight against COVID-19 and caused obstacles in the way of Tehran’s access to its own financial resources in order to purchase medicine and medical equipment.
“The European Union, particularly France, is expected not to remain silent vis-à-vis this inhumane move,” the Iranian president added.
The French president said preservation of the JCPOA is a necessity for the international community and called for
the continuation of negotiations about all sides’ full return to compliance with the deal.
Macron added that Europe is ready to play a more active role within the next weeks to maintain the JCPOA.
‘Unconstructive and unfriendly’
In addition, the Iranian president’s chief of staff, Mahmoud Vaezi, slammed as unconstructive and unfriendly a resolution that the IAEA Board of Governors is going to pass on Iran, warning of its negative consequences, Tasnim News Agency reported.
In an address to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, he said Iran considers the resolution being prepared by the UN nuclear agency’s Board of Governors as an “unconstructive and unfriendly stance”.
He also warned that such an anti-iranian resolution will have negative effects on the negotiations about the JCPOA and Iran’s view about the IAEA.
Vaezi also noted that many revisions have been made to the resolution in recent days as some of its articles have been omitted to soften it.
Ambassador advice
Moreover, Russian Ambassador and
Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov in a Twitter message advised the IAEA Board of Governors not to adopt a resolution which can undermine the JCPOA prospect, according to IRNA.
“When I say ‘a highly risky political experiment’ I mean an adoption of a stupid resolution which can undermine the prospects for a restoration of #JCPOA exactly at the moment when this task becomes very much feasible,” Ulyanov’s message read.
“#IAEA Governors at their on-going session face a great challenge. They really can contribute to strengthening the global non-proliferation regime and restoration of #JCPOA. They also can decide not to oppose highly risky political experiments. The Governors have to make a choice,” he said in a separate message.
Earlier, the spokesman of Iranian government Ali Rabiei said the country’s agreement with the IAEA is a clear message of Tehran’s good faith to give a chance to diplomacy.
Referring to the agreement with the IAEA, he said that the government will respect the law passed by the Parliament and also give assurance to the international community that Iran’s nuclear activities will be under international legal inspections and stay peaceful.
Russia warned Wednesday it would “rebuff aggression” after the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on several officials over the poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
“We will continue to systematically and resolutely defend our national interests and rebuff aggression,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, adding Moscow would react on the basis of “reciprocity and not necessarily symmetrically”, AFP reported.
She accused the United States of “trying to cultivate the image of an external enemy” as a way to distract attention from domestic problems.
“We urge our colleagues not to play with fire,” she added in a statement.
The new sanctions introduced on Tuesday target several individuals within Russia’s security sector, including Federal Security Service (FSB) head Alexander Bortnikov.
Echoing comments made by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday, Zakharova said that Russia will respond in turn to the sanctions.
“We will react on the basis of the principle of reciprocity and not necessarily symmetrically,” she said.
Navalny was flown to Germany for treatment but he returned in January. He was jailed last month after recovering in from exposure to the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok.
‘Absolutely unacceptable’
The Kremlin also said Wednesday that new Western sanctions were “absolutely unacceptable” and dismissed claims that Moscow was behind the poisoning of Navalny.
“We believe such measures are absolutely unacceptable because they significantly damage already bad relations” with Washington and Brussels, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
He told journalists that the new sanctions amounted to “nothing other than interference in the domestic affairs” of Russia.
“Our American colleagues are claiming with a high degree of certainty that a poisoning allegedly took place and that the FSB was behind the poisoning. This is outrageous,” Peskov said.
“We can only express regret that in this case our opponents are resorting to methods that have a destructive effect on bilateral ties,” he added.
Peskov said that Russia will also introduce sanctions in response, without giving details.
The Eighth International Exhibition of Rail Transportation, Related Industries and Equipment (Rail Expo 2021) opened in Tehran on Wednesday.
The opening ceremony of the four-day event was attended by Roads and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami and Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (IRIR) Saeid Rasouli, IRNA reported.
Showcasing the latest achievements and technological developments of the railway transportation and related industries, promotion of domestic production, export development, introducing the capabilities of Iranian companies, indigenization of railway industry equipment and machinery, and familiarization of railway manufacturers with the latest developments in this industry are some of the main goals of the exhibition.
According to the organizers, the expo can provide a good opportunity to promote domestic production.
On the sidelines of the opening ceremony, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was also signed between the IRIR and Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME).
Under the MOU, rail transport companies can offer their services for the transportation of commodities on the IME and producers and businessmen active will be offered reasonable expenses for rail transportation.
The exhibition was due to be held during in late May 2020, however the event was postponed due to the critical situation of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
Due to the virus spread, only managers, businessmen, scholars, and experts have been allowed to visit most of the exhibitions in the past few months.