UK Deputy Foreign Minister Alistair Burt expressed satisfaction with his country being assigned to the joint presidency in the Arak modernization project after five world powers agreed with Iran on Friday to forge ahead with negotiations over the 2015 nuclear deal without the US.
Burt, who attended the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action’s (JCPOA) summit in Austria on Saturday, twitted “Good to see firm support for the Iran nuclear deal at today’s Joint Commission in Vienna. It is imperative that all parties meet their commitments in full. Pleased to announce that the UK will be taking up the role of co-chair for the Arak modernization project”.
The US, which initially led a working group to redesign the Arak reactor with China, pulled out of JCPOA and reimposed sanctions on Iran, leaving the future of the project in limbo, ISNA reported.
The restoration of US sanctions on Atomic Energy Organization of Iran would expose non-US companies to the risk of punishment by the United States for dealing with it, including Chinese state-owned China National Nuclear Corp., which is involved in the project.
Under the nuclear accord, the Arak reactor was to be redesigned to render it unable to make bomb-grade plutonium under normal operation. Iran has denied pursuing nuclear weapons.
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters on Saturday that “they welcomed steady progress made on the modernization of the Arak research reactor and took note with satisfaction that the United Kingdom will take over the function of co-chair of the Arak Working Group. Participants will continue to support the modernization of the Arak research reactor as part of the JCPOA.”
