Nuclear Deal Alive Thanks to Iran, Not E3

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif highlighted the European countries’ inaction in preserving the 2015 nuclear deal, stressing that the agreement is only alive thanks to Iran’s strategies. 
“E3 leaders—who rely on signature of OFAC [Office of Foreign Assets Control of America] functionaries to carry out their obligations under JCPOA—have done ZILCH to maintain JCPOA,” Zarif said in a tweet on Sunday. 
He used the abbreviation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name of the nuclear deal.
Zarif’s remarks came in response to a recent statement by France, Germany and Britain, in which they urged Iran to return to full compliance if it is serious about preserving the deal. 
“JCPOA is alive because of Iran and not E3,” he added.  
JCPOA has been unraveling since the United States pulled out in 2018 and reimposed tough sanctions on Tehran, to which it has responded by scaling down its commitments. 
Iran has been accelerating its moves beyond JPCOA limits in recent months in accordance with a recent parliamentary law and announced on Wednesday the initiation of a project for the production of uranium metal-based fuel for Tehran Research Reactor. 
The E3 warned Iran in their joint statement against starting the project, saying it contravened JCPOA and had serious military implications.
“We strongly encourage Iran to end this activity and return to full compliance with its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action without delay, if it is serious about preserving this agreement,” the E3 statement said.

European Non-Compliance 

The European powers madke the call while they have been unable to meet their own obligations and to protect Iran’s interests, which are almost completely jeopardized as a result of the US sanctions. 
“Remember @EmmanuelMacron's stillborn initiative or UK non-payment of court-ordered debt?” Zarif added in his tweet. 
In August, 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron offered a proposal before world leaders for a $15 billion line of credit to Tehran in exchange for its full compliance with JCPOA. The initiative hit a roadblock, however, as the US administration refused to engage. 
The UK is also refusing to pay its £400 million debt to the Iranian government arising from the non-delivery of Chieftain tanks ordered by the Shah of Iran before his overthrow in 1979, despite an international arbitration’s ruling. 
In his tweet, Zarif also tagged his French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian who had claimed recently that Iran is in the process of building up its nuclear weapons capacity and called for Tehran and Washington’s urgent return to JCPOA. 
“This has to stop because Iran and - I say this clearly - is in the process of acquiring nuclear [weapons] capacity,” he had said in an interview on Saturday. 
He said it was urgent to “tell the Iranians that this is enough” and to bring Iran and the United States back into the accord.
Iran has always denied any intent to weaponize its nuclear program, but had agreed to place curbs on its peaceful activities under JCPOA in return for the lifting of sanctions. 
It has declared now that all its nuclear measures would be reversed once it can enjoy the JCPOA benefits again, whether through the US lifting of sanctions or European countermeasures.