Iran's Trade Mechanism Moving Ahead, EU Says

"There is an advancement when it comes to this instrument and the first transactions are being processed. It does take time but it is moving ahead so that process continues," the spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, Maja Kocijancic, told reporters in Brussels on Friday.

Recently, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif penned a letter to Federica Mogherini about Tehran’s new step in reducing commitments to the 2015 nuclear deal.

In the letter, Zarif made it clear that the Islamic Republic of Iran has suspended all of its commitments regarding the nuclear research and development under the JCPOA as of Thursday, because of the consequences of the US withdrawal from the JCPOA, re-imposition of US sanctions on Iran, and failure of the three EU parties to fulfill their commitments stipulated by the JCPOA and by the JCPOA Joint Commission’s statements.

Tehran had earlier scaled back its nuclear commitments twice in compliance with articles 26 and 36 of the 2015 deal, after the US scrapped the agreement in May 2018 and the European parties (the UK, France, and Germany) failed to ensure Iran’s economic interests.

Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, US, Britain, France, and Germany) on July 14, 2015, reached a conclusion over the text of the JCPOA.

The accord took effect in January 2016 and was supposed to terminate all nuclear-related sanctions against Iran all at once, but its implementation was hampered by the US policies and its eventual withdrawal from the deal.

On May 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the nuclear accord.

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

However, the EU’s failure to ensure Iran’s economic interests forced Tehran to stop honoring certain commitments, including an unlimited rise in the stockpile of enriched uranium.

Message end/