Call for JCPOA Panel Meeting on Renewed US Sanctions

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has formally requested a meeting of the Joint Commission established under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to discuss whether the US renewal of the Iran Sanctions Act is a breach of the July 2015 nuclear deal.

The minister made the call in a Saturday letter to Federica Mogherini, the European Union foreign policy chief who is also the coordinator of the Joint Commission that includes all JCPOA participants, IRNA reported. Pointing to Iran's full commitment to its obligations after the January implementation of the deal, Zarif criticized the US for not fully meeting its responsibilities.

"Protecting cohesion of the JCPOA and its endurance demand efforts by all parties to [ensure the] continued implementation of the accord by all parties," Zarif wrote in the letter, in which he also called for a meeting of the Joint Commission's working group on the enforcement of sanctions relief.

The measure was a reaction to last Tuesday's directive by President Hassan Rouhani on Iran's response to the renewal of the Iran Sanctions Act by the US Congress, which required Zarif to exploit the mechanism envisaged in the historic accord to address any breach committed by any party and report to Rouhani monthly.

In a separate directive, Rouhani charged Ali Akbar Salehi, who heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, with designing and developing nuclear marine propulsion systems and the fuel to power such systems for use in marine transportation.