“Another objective of theirs was to ‘escape forward’, because the European sides to the nuclear deal have failed to live up to their commitments to the agreement and now seek to overshadow their JCPOA violations,” he added.

On early Thursday morning, British Royal Marines in Gibraltar stormed the 300,000-tonne Grace 1 and detained it, accusing it of carrying oil to Syria in possible violation of the European Union’s sanctions on the war-torn Arab country.

According to Gibraltar authorities, the 28 crewmembers, who are nationals of India, Pakistan and Ukraine, are currently staying aboard the tanker, along with local police and customs officers boarding the vessel for a period of a probe.

Iran has condemned the move as “maritime piracy” and summoned Britain’s ambassador in protest over the measure.

Jalami maintained that Britain will always follow the US’ policies.

He also stressed the need for pursuing the case through legal channels and the UN Security Council.

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European countries pursue several aims at once; they want to withdraw from the deal, get out of their commitments and also shift the responsibility of its political and legal aftermaths on Iran, added the lawmaker.

It seems that measures of EU and US are coordinated, he said, adding, US President Donald Trump takes an extreme position and imposes sanctions on Iran and on the other hand, Europeans just make empty promises to keep Iran in a state of inaction.

The remarks came as European partners of the deal announced that the special-purpose financial mechanism to continue trade with Iran, called INSTEX, has been operational amid the dire condition of the deal.

On the first anniversary of the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Iran announced that it would suspend the implementation of some of its commitments under the deal, announcing that it would stop exporting excess uranium and heavy water, setting a 60-day deadline for the five remaining parties to the deal to take practical measures towards ensuring its interests in the face of the American sanctions.

Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions. However, Washington began re-imposing even stricter unilateral sanctions on Tehran since May last year.

Iran says its countermeasures fit within its rights under paragraphs 26 and 36 of the nuclear deal, and that it will reverse the measures once its demands are met.

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.

Tehran says that INSTEX is not sufficient and doesn’t meet its demands. “INSTEX is actually banking transactions for trading food, medicine and medical equipment; this an insult the Iranian nation … the way Europeans act on INSTEX is not acceptable … Europe should honor its JPCOA commitments in trading and banking sectors with Iran. The export of Iranian oil and products are an important part of the JCPOA,” Mohammadreza Pour-Ebrahimi, a member of the Parliament’s Economic Committee, told Mehr News Agency on Sunday.

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