On the sidelines of the meeting, Kharrazi said that this was the first visit of British Deputy Foreign Minister to Tehran to pursue bilateral ties.

IRAN NEWS POLTICAL DESK

He said that Tehran is ‘serious’ about reducing its commitments to the nuclear deal if European countries fail to adopt necessary ‘practical’ measures by the 60-day deadline.

“Three European signatories to the deal have not adopted any serious measures [to save the agreement], so Iran is reducing its commitments according to the JCPOA’s text … After the 60-day deadline, next steps will be taken and Iranian authorities are serious about their decision,” he told reporters after a meeting with Marrison in Tehran.

On May 8, exactly a year after the U.S. pulled out from the JCPOA, Iran revealed countermeasures to U.S.’ withdrawal, giving the other remaining parties to the JCPOA 60 days to comply with their commitments, particularly those regarding Iran’s economic interests in the banking and energy sectors, before reducing portions of its own commitments to the agreement stage by stage. Iran says its decision to reduce commitments to the JCPOA, given the current status of the deal, is within its rights under the agreement

Kharrazi quoted the British diplomat as having said that INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) will be operationalized ‘soon’ and that UK supports the Iran deal but London has its own set of problems with Washington. “These are repetitive words,” Kharrazi said.

In late January 2018, Europe announced the establishment of a special trade mechanism dubbed as INSTEX (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges) in a bid to save JCPOA after the withdrawal of the United States. The mechanism, which is yet to prove its effectiveness, is said to initially cover trades of food, medicine and medical devices and to gradually include other areas.

Europeans should provide resources for INSTEX to enable it to trade with Iran, he said, adding, “one should see whether Europe is making empty promises or taking practical steps in the two weeks that remain until the deadline.”