TEHRAN – The EU has never wavered in its support for the JCPOA as it wholeheartedly believes that the nuclear deal is a “good agreement that is working”, says Nathalie Tocci, an aide to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

In an interview with Tasnim published on Saturday, Tocci said the JCPOA is an agreement which proves that multilateralism, diplomacy and international law, three fundamental principles underpinning EU foreign policy, are the only recipes for delivering international peace and security.

In reference to U.S. pullout from the nuclear agreement, she said the move “represents a violation of an international agreement enshrined in international law through a UNSC resolution.”

Pointing out that Iran has so far remained in compliance with the terms of the JCPOA as testified by 11 rounds of inspections of the IAEA, Tocci said, “The snapback of sanctions, as a political move aimed at bringing Iran to the negotiating table, has little logic to it.”

“Negotiations require a minimum level of trust and good faith between adversaries for them to succeed and the U.S. violation of the JCPOA has fundamentally undermined the little trust that had been patiently built over the course of 12 years of negotiations,” she added.

Moreover, she continued, “It seems to me that the Trump administration’s intent is not to negotiate a new deal with Iran but rather induce Iran’s capitulation.”

She also pointed to the U.S. threat of punishment on anyone doing business with Iran, saying, “Never has there been a U.S. administration intent in punishing what presumably are its closest allies for respecting an agreement that the U.S. also signed and which is an integral element of international law.”

“This is an unprecedented situation which Europeans are only beginning to grapple with. The updated blocking regulation is a first step in this direction,” Tocci added.

On U.S. willingness to hold talks with Iran, she said, “This is a decision for the Iranian government to take but I very strongly doubt the U.S. expectation will materialize.”

Tocci also touched upon the European Union’s decision to punish European firms that stop doing business with Iran because of U.S. sanctions. “What the blocking regulation does is, on the one hand, to allow companies to recover losses incurred from secondary sanctions and on the other, it forbids companies from complying with those sanctions imposing financial penalties on them otherwise.”

“The effectiveness of the regulation naturally is an entirely different manner given that the EU cannot force companies to invest in any country if this is not in their interest,” she added.