EU Confirms FM Sent Letter on Nuclear Deal

An informed source at the European Union has confirmed that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has recently written a letter to the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, on the implementation of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

“Regarding your question, the HRVP [High Representative/Vice-President] received the letter from Minister Zarif related to the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] implementation.  In her capacity as coordinator of the Joint Commission, the HR shared the letter with all E3 + 3 [France, Germany and Britain plus the US, Russia and China],” the source told Tasnim News Agency on Tuesday when asked if Zarif had sent a letter to Mogherini.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said “Any party to the JCPOA can bring up issues about the implementation (of the deal) to the attention of the coordinator which are then discussed in the Joint Commission [that monitors enforcement of the agreement]. I will not comment on details but can only reiterate that we expect all sides to fully adhere to their commitments under the deal.”

  Fresh Hostility  

The correspondence came after the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on May 25 approved a bill to impose new sanctions on Iran over its missile program.

Iran has repeatedly said that its missile program is purely defensive.   The committee voted 18-3 in favor of the measure, but the bill still requires the full senate consideration and support by the House of Representatives and US President Donald Trump to become law. US lawmakers, who backed the bill, said they believed that the bill would not violate terms of the nuclear deal.

However, senior Iranian officials, including the foreign minister, are concerned that the new measure could undermine the nuclear agreement. Iran and the six powers concluded the accord in July 2015 and implemented it in January 2016. The pact granted Iran sanctions relief in exchange for time-bound constraints on the country’s nuclear activities.