The E3 group of countries comprised of France, Britain, and Germany called on Iran to refrain from any violent action and urged Iran to go back to respecting arrangements laid out in the commitments to JCPOA 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, according to Reuters.

This is while Iran’s decision to row back on its nuclear commitments was in fact in response to the E3’s failure to live up to their own JCPOA commitments which included safeguarding Iran’s economic interests against the US sanctions.

The fifth step removes the last of operational limitations Iran had accepted within the framework of the JCPOA, that is, the limit on the number of centrifuges.

According to a statement by the Iranian government following the announcement of the fifth step, Iran’s nuclear program no longer faces any operational restrictions, including enrichment capacity, percentage of enrichment, amount of enriched material, and research and development.

The statement adds, however, that Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA will continue as before.

According to the statement, “if the sanctions are lifted and Iran benefits from its interests enshrined in the JCPOA, the Islamic Republic is ready to return to its commitments.”

The three European countries also highlighted the importance of de-escalating tensions in Iraq and Iran, and reaffirmed their decision to keep their coalition in the region, calling on the Iraqi authorities to “continue to supply the necessary support to the coalition.”

“We are ready to continue talks with all parties in order to contribute to de-escalating tensions and re-establishing stability in the region,” added the E3 group.

The United States terrorist forces assassinated Lt. General Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s pro-government Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) — better known as Hashd al-Sha’abi — in an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport early on Friday.

Both Soleimani and Muhandis were popular figureheads for putting a stop to the rise of ISIL terrorism in the region.

The statement by the Iranian government regarding the measure reads:

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, in the fifth step in reducing its commitment, discards the last key component of its operational limitations in the JCPOA, which is the “limit on the number of centrifuges.”

As such, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear program no longer faces any operational restrictions, including enrichment capacity, percentage of enrichment, amount of enriched material, and research and development.

From here on, Iran’s nuclear program will be developed solely based on its technical needs.

Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA will continue as before.

If the sanctions are lifted and Iran benefits from its interests enshrined in the JCPOA, the Islamic Republic is ready to return to its commitments.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) is obliged to take the necessary steps and arrangements in coordination with the President.”

US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled Washington out of the JCPOA in May 2018 and reimposed “toughest ever” sanctions against the Islamic Republic in defiance of global criticism.

In response to the US unilateral move, as well as the European signatories’ failure to safeguard Iran’s economic interests in the face of US sanctions, Tehran rowed back on its nuclear commitments step-by-step in compliance with Articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA but stressed that its retaliatory measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield the mutual trade from the US sanctions.

As a first step, Iran increased its enriched uranium stockpile to beyond the 300 kilograms set by the JCPOA.

In the second step, Tehran began enriching uranium to purity rates beyond the JCPOA limit of 3.76 percent.

In the third phase, after the Europeans failed to meet a 60-day deadline to meet Iran’s demands and fulfill their commitments under the deal, Iran started up advanced centrifuges to boost the country’s stockpile of enriched uranium and activated 20 IR-4 and 20 IR-6 centrifuges for research and development purposes.

In November, Iran began injecting gas into centrifuges at the Fordow plant as part of its fourth step away from the JCPOA under the supervision of the IAEA.

MNA has contributed to this report.

Some decisions are made by this committee and regarding the ongoing circumstances, the fourth step is highly probable to be taken, he informed.

Noting that Iran is interested in taking the diplomatic path with Europeans, Mousavi added that Europeans, in particular the French, are doing their best to fulfill their commitments although no tangible achievements have been gained in this regard yet.

Chief of Staff of Iranian President Mahmoud Vaezi said on Wednesday that Tehran will take the next step in reducing its commitments to the nuclear deal (JCPOA) if other parties fail to secure Iran’s interests.

“As we have already said, a committee is reviewing Iran’s measures for the fourth step [of reducing commitments to the JCPOA],” he told reporterson the sideline of a cabinet meeting.

“If our demands are not met by Europeans in the two-month period of the third step, we will take the fourth step in the announced time.”

One year after US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Iran announced in May 2019 that it is reducing commitments to JCPOA in a transparent manner and according to Paragraphs 26 and 36 of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Tehran has so far taken three steps, highlighting that all its measures are reversible as soon as other parties can shield its economy from damages of US unilateral sanctions. Tehran will announce the fourth step on Nov. 7.

Considering all the made statements and remarks of Iranian senior officials, the country’s 4th step of reducing JCPOA commitments may include: unveiling chain of 30 IR6 centrifuges, increasing enrichment level, running the second phase of Arak reactor as well as installing its refueling machine, besides unveiling IR7, IR8, and IR9 centrifuges.