UK to Continue to Work with JCPOA Partners

“With tensions rising in the (Persian) Gulf, we must all stand together,” May said, addressing the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, on Saturday.

“Escalation is in no-one’s interest,” she said, adding, “We need engagement on all sides to find a diplomatic solution to the current situation.”

“At the same time, the UK will continue to work with our JCPOA partners to do all we can keep the Iran nuclear deal in place. We believe the deal makes the world safer and I want to see Iran uphold its obligations,” she said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced on June 21 that the country plans to begin the second phase of measures to reduce its commitments under the JCPOA on July 7.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in the central city of Isfahan, Zarif pointed to Iran’s measures regarding the JCPOA and said in President Hassan Rouhani’s letter to the leaders of the JCPOA parties and in his letter to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, Iran has announced two phases of measures.

The first phase started on May 8 and the second phase will begin on July 7, the Iranian top diplomat added.

On May 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the JCPOA, a 159-page nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) came into force in January 2016.

Following the US withdrawal, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.

However, the EU’s failure to ensure Iran’s economic interests forced Tehran to stop honoring certain commitments under JCPOA on May 8, 2019.

Iran has also set a 60-day deadline for the remaining JCPOA parties to fulfill their undertakings.

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