“Instead of demanding that Iran unilaterally abide by a multilateral accord, EU should uphold obligations – incl normalization of economic ties,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a tweet on Thursday.

IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

Referring to EU statement, regretting the re-imposition of sanctions by the United States against Iran, Zarif went on to say, “EU statement today is why JCPOA is where it is: the U.S. has bullied Europe—and rest of world—for a year and EU can only express regret,” Iran Press reported.

EU statement today is why JCPOA is where it is: the US has bullied Europe—and rest of world—for a year and EU can only express “regret”.

Instead of demanding that Iran unilaterally abide by a multilateral accord, EU should uphold obligations – incl normalization of economic ties.

Earlier in the day, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and the UK released a joint statement, saying, “We regret the re-imposition of sanctions by the United States following their withdrawal from the JCPOA” and said they would stay fully committed to “the preservation and full implementation” of the JCPOA, which they described as “a key achievement of the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture, which is in the security interest of all.”

The EU statement had also rejected an earlier decision by the Islamic Republic to suspend part of its commitment under the agreement.

French President Emmanuel Macron appealed for calm, saying Europe must work to convince Iran to stick with the deal.

“We must not get jumpy or fall into escalation,” Macron said.

EU diplomatic chief Mogherini and France, Germany and Britain — the three European signatories to the deal — voiced “great concern” at President Hassan Rouhani’s dramatic intervention.

“We strongly urge Iran to continue to implement its commitments under the JCPOA in full as it has done until now and to refrain from any escalatory steps,” they said in a joint statement, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as the deal is known.

“We reject any ultimatums and we will assess Iran’s compliance on the basis of Iran’s performance regarding its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA.”

Macron warned that leaving the deal would “unstitch what we have achieved”.

“That’s why France is staying in, and will stay in and I profoundly hope Iran will stay in,” Macron said as he arrived for the summit.

The EU statement stressed the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) role in monitoring Iran’s compliance with the deal — suggesting no concrete action is likely until the inspectors’ next report at the end of May.

Mogherini said she had “a lot of concern” about this week’s developments but stressed that Iran was so far still “fully compliant” with the deal.

“We will continue to see the compliance of Iran to its commitments to the JCPOA through the lenses of the assessments that the IAEA will continue to do,” she told reporters in Sibiu.

The European statement reiterated its commitment to helping the Iranian people enjoy the benefit of sanctions relief, condemning the U.S. reimposition.