Iran has triggered the 2015 nuclear deal’s dispute resolution mechanism several times, but its call has been ignored by the coordinators each time, a senior diplomat said.
“Their refusal to respond to our letters does not mean Iran has not complained or has taken no measure to activate the dispute resolution mechanism,” Abbas Mousavi said in a regular press briefing on Monday, ISNA reported.
The nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was signed between Iran and the six world powers, but the United States pulled out in 2018 and restored tough sanctions on Tehran.
Iran referred the issue to the Joint Commission under the dispute resolution mechanism as foreseen in paragraph 36 of JCPOA.
The complaint was made in a letter to the European Union’s foreign policy chief as the coordinator of the deal.
“The Europeans are both parties and coordinators of JCPOA and naturally when we see a clear non-compliance, we should refer it to them,” Mousavi said.
France, Britain and Germany had pledged to make up for the impacts of the American sanctions, but their feeble efforts failed to address the country’s economic woes.
As they fell short of meeting their commitments, Iran wrote to the EU foreign policy chief to refer the issue to the Joint Commission under the mechanism, but the request fell on deaf ears once again.
“To wriggle out of their commitments, they did not take this as activation of the dispute resolution mechanism,” Mousavi said.
Iran then began to reduce its compliance step by step as a “remedial measure” based on the provisions of the deal, but it declared that all moves would be reversed as soon as Iran begins to receive the JCPOA benefits again.
European Denial
In January, France, Britain and Germany announced that they have activated the mechanism “in good faith … and in the sincere hope of finding a way forward to resolve the impasse through constructive diplomatic dialogue".
They argued that contrary to its statements, Iran has never triggered the mechanism and “has no legal grounds to cease implementing the provisions of the agreement".
Most recently, the three European states submitted a draft resolution to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors about Iran’s refusal of access to two sites suspected by the agency of past nuclear activity.
The resolution was adopted by the 35-nation board, with two votes against from China and Russia, the other two parties to JPCOA.
Iran described the move as “irresponsible and illegal” and wrote again to EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, referring the issue to the Joint Commission for resolution.
Borrell confirmed having received the letter in a statement, saying he remained determined to continue working with JCPOA participants and the international community to preserve the deal.
“We are awaiting the Europeans’ response. We may not be able to put [the mechanism] into operation due to the spread of the coronavirus disease, but they must give us a reply,” Mousavi said.
They should be held accountable for the violation of their commitments, most recently at the IAEA’s Board of Governors, he added.
Military Deal With Syria
Asked about the recent military deal between Iran and Syria, Mousavi said Tehran’s military cooperation with Damascus is nothing new and the two countries have had multifaceted ties for long.
“This cooperation is of great importance at present when the Syrian government and nation are engaged in a fight against foreign aggression and terrorism led by regional and non-regional powers,” he said.
The spokesman stressed that Iran’s presence in Syria has been at the request of the government in Damascus and the recent agreement was along this line.
“Our collaboration and political, economic and military contracts with the Syrian government and nation will continue more than before until the end of terrorist groups’ occupation of the region,” he said.
The military cooperation agreement was signed last week in Damascus by Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri and Deputy Commander in Chief of Syrian Armed Forces and Defense Minister Major General Ali Abdullah Ayoub.
