EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the European Union will remain committed to the continued and full implementation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and has not changed its position since the US pullout of the deal last month.
“Our position as Europeans has not changed. On the contrary, we have seen the reasons why this agreement was a good agreement. We remain committed to the full and effective implementation of the nuclear deal with Iran,” she said on Tuesday after the landmark US-North Korea summit in Singapore, official website of the European Union reported.
Pointing to the US President Donald Trump’s meeting with North Korea’s leader Kim Jung-un, Mogherini said that “let me say that in more general terms, this is a clear sign of the fact that the diplomatic track is often challenging, is often the most difficult one to be followed, but it is always the rewarding one and needs to be sustained over time.”
“It was the same track that the international community and the European Union followed for over a decade with Iran, resulting in the nuclear deal–almost exactly three years ago. We did it because it was our European security interest and the global security interest,” she added.
Three years on, the deal is delivering, she said, adding that Iran abides by its nuclear-related commitments, as it has been confirmed eleven times by the International Atomic Energy Agency, last time just a few weeks ago.
Growing Int’l Support
Mogherini said she has seen increasing support for the Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, since May 8 when Trump decided to pull the US out of the international agreement, signed between Iran and six world major powers.
“Since a month ago, the bulk of the international community has confirmed and reiterated the strong support for the nuclear agreement with Iran, simply for a very pragmatic reason: there is no better alternative and the world cannot afford a nuclear arms race, in particular in the Middle East.”
“This support from the rest of the international community is something I experience every single day in my meetings, be them with the Chinese Foreign Minister [Zhang Jun], the Japanese Foreign Minister [Taro Kono], or the African Union Chairman [Paul Kagame] or our colleagues from Latin America, or the rest of Europe that is not part of the European Union,” she added.
Security Interest
Mogherini said that the work on the implementation of nuclear-related commitments continues because it is essential for security.
“The Arak reactor modernization project led by China continues, or the conversion of the Fordow facility into a nuclear, physics and technology centre–a project led by Russia–continues. A dedicated workshop on Fordow is foreseen to take place later this week,” she said.
On May 31, Reuters reported that the remaining parties to JCPOA have warned the United States that its decision to withdraw from the pact jeopardizes Russian and Chinese efforts to redesign Arak and Fordow nuclear facilities in Iran.
In pulling out of the deal, Trump triggered the revival of sanctions against the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), which oversees the Arak heavy water research reactor and the Fordow fuel enrichment plant.
Under the deal, the Arak reactor was to be redesigned to render it unable to make bomb-grade plutonium under normal operation, while the Fordow plant was to stop enriching uranium and be converted into a nuclear, physics and technology center, Reuters reported.
“It is essential, it is vital for our own security and for the security of the region that implementation work [in Arak and Fordow] continues, and we are guaranteeing that it happens regardless of the US withdrawal,” Mogherini said.
“Implementation must continue both on the nuclear commitments and also on the economic track, because the other essential part of the nuclear deal is the lifting of sanctions and the opportunities it creates for normalized trade and economic relations,” she added.
