Europe Urged to Oppose New US Push Against Nuclear Deal

Iran’s ambassador in Brussels called on the European Union as a major “winner” of the 2015 nuclear deal to take a stand against the new US assault on the landmark agreement, which is aimed at jeopardizing another benefit promised to Iran in addition to its economic interests. 
“The EU … is in a good place to maintain the existing frail balance on the multi and bilateral front by standing against the latest US offensive on the JCPOA, as well as restoring the balance on the economic front, thereby resuscitating the moribund nuclear agreement,” Gholam Hossein Dehqani said in an op-ed published by Euronews on Wednesday.
The US pulled out of the international nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in May 8, 2018, and reimposed the lifted sanctions. 
In line with its maximum pressure campaign to compel Iran to renegotiate a new deal, it has now launched a drive to gain votes for an indefinite extension of the United Nations’ arms embargo that is to expire in October as per UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that endorsed JCPOA. 
The effort is based on the argument that although the US is no longer a party to the nuclear deal, it remains an original participant under the terms of UNSCR 2231. 
“Convoluted in a flawed logic, the fresh US onslaught on the JCPOA, if it materializes, may throw the deal irredeemably off-balance,” Dehqani said. 

Vital Element 

The Iranian envoy stressed that a vital element of the deal’s successful implementation, or under the current circumstances its survival, is balance, chiefly between Iran’s nuclear commitments and its enjoyment of economic benefits. 
“In return for the temporary and voluntary measures taken by Iran beyond its commitments under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Safeguards Agreement, all international restrictions and constraints against Iran, including, amongst other things, the automatic termination of the arms embargo on 18 October 2020, will be terminated according to an established timetable,” he said. 
The balance was already disrupted, as the uncertainty created by the new US administration killed the constructive atmosphere in which the JCPOA could have been successfully implemented, he added. 
Iran, according to Dehqani, exercised “strategic restraint” for a full year (from 2018 to 2019) and “made the fateful decision to stay compliant unilaterally”, in spite of its diminishing economic value that saw 2019 become the worst period of Iran-EU trade.
“Iran then announced its reversible phased plan to cease performing some of its nuclear commitments to restore the lost balance, as the landscape did not offer any positive sign in terms of the promised normalization of trade and economic relations,” he explained. 
“Any expectation from Iran to restore the May 2019 status quo ante goes hand in hand with increased benefits from the implementation of the JCPOA on political and economic planes.” 
In addition, he said, another important element integral to the successful implementation of the JCPOA and sustaining its balance is “the political benefits which are to accrue from the lifting of UN sanctions”, including the expiration of the UN arms ban.