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IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

TEHRAN – The remaining signatories to a 2015 Iran nuclear deal say they will do everything possible to preserve the landmark accord following their first meeting since the United States launched an unlawful push to restore United Nations sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The meeting of the Joint Commission to the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was co-chaired by Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, European External Action Service Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid.

In a post on her Twitter account at the end of the talks, Schmid wrote that it was “important” that the participants — Iran, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China — were “united in resolve to preserve” the nuclear deal.

She added that the parties were also determined to “find a way to ensure full implementation of the agreement despite current challenges.”

All parties to the JCPOA –Iran, Russia, China, the UK, France and Germany- reiterated that the U.S. is not a participant in the nuclear deal and has no right to use the mechanisms embedded in the JCPOA or in the UNSC Resolution 2231, he underlined.

The JCPOA Joint Commission deems that the U.S. government’s anti-Iranian attempts at the UN are illegal, considers as null and void the U.S.’ bid to trigger the snapback mechanism, and believes that Washington’s measures will get nowhere, he added.

“All JCPOA members and the majority of the international community members are opposed to the U.S.’ unilateral policies and its policy of weakening multilateralism, international organizations and multilateral approaches in the international relations. Everybody complains about the measures the U.S. is taking to ruin the international institutions,” Araqchi stated.

He further criticized the inefficiency of the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), a financial mechanism developed by the three European members of the JCPOA- saying while the channel was supposed to organize trade interaction between Iran and Europe in defiance of the US sanctions, it has fallen far below Iran’s expectations.

The European parties have come up with some ideas to improve the efficiency of the payment channel, Araqchi added, saying one initiative is to allow Russia and China to join the INSTEX and carry financial transactions.

The EU3 has also proposed the idea of increasing the number of INSTEX shareholders and finding new financial resources to fund the channel, the Iranian deputy foreign minister noted.

Speaking after the meeting, Araqchi also said Iran’s JCPOA partners do not recognize the U.S. as a participating side and “do not regard this country as entitled to use the mechanisms of the JCPOA or Resolution 2231.”

“The convergence among the participants sent an important message to the world about the position of the JCPOA’s members,” he said. “This is, of course, the stance of the majority of the international community. The mood at the UN Security Council is also similar.”

“All JCPOA members and the majority of the world community are against America’s unilateral policies and undermining multilateralism and global institutions in international relations. Everyone is complaining about the measures that the US takes to destroy international bodies,” he said.

The Iranian diplomat added that a number of initiatives have been put forward on ways to safeguard the JCPOA against Washington’s unilateralism, adding, “All signatories are determined not to allow the U.S. to impose its own will [on others] and unilaterally kill a deal that has the support of the international community and the Security Council.”

In turn, Russia’s Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov wrote on Twitter that the Vienna meeting “demonstrated that its participants are fully committed to the nuclear deal and are determined to do their best to preserve it.”

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Speaking on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Zarif welcomed as a “positive move” the joining of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden as new shareholders in the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX).

But as already stressed, “We do not expect that one of the pharmaceutical companies of a country claiming to be supporting the JCPOA (the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), refrains from selling rare medicine to Iran,” Zarif said.

Responding to a question about bans on the sale of medicine needed for Iranian patients suffering from EB, Zarif said not every country produces dressings needed for EB kids and few companies do that.

Zarif said a Swedish company sold Iran the products but now refuses to do so under pressure from the US sanctions and bullying.

“That you want to join INSTEX is very good but as the Americans themselves claim that medical and humanitarian products are not under sanctions, you [are expected] to not impose [the bans on them],” he added.

Last year, President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the JCPOA, and unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against Tehran.

Since Washington’s withdrawal from the JCPAO, the European parties to the deal — Britain, France, and Germany — have pledged to implement the agreement and guarantee trade with Iran in the face of the US sanctions.

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