EU: Preserving Iran nuclear deal ‘joint responsibility’

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - EU’s foreign policy chief called it a “joint responsibility” to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal, while urging Iran again to stick to the treaty.

"Preserving the deal is not only our interest and our responsibility -- it is -- but it is also a joint responsibility for all around the world," Federica Mogherini told the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) signed by the U.K., the U.S., Russia, China, France, Germany and the EU, Iran agreed to destroy its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium and cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98%.

However, Iran lately confirmed that it had breached the 3.67% limit of uranium enrichment set under the 2015 nuclear deal.

In October 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Washington would no longer be a signatory to the deal and subsequently withdrew from it. Shortly after, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Iran.

Mogherini said Iran's actions do not indicate a "unequivocal decision or intention" by Tehran to revert to its nuclear program.

"At the same time, I want to be very clear, the longer Iran proceeds down this road, the harder it will be, technically, to step back. Our request to Iran is very clear: go back to the full implementation of the deal as you have been doing so far," she added.

The foreign policy chief underscored that it is a “global responsibility” to preserve the deal and its full implementation, which was unanimously adopted UN Security Council resolution.