EU urges Iran to adhere to nuclear treaty

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called on Iran to fully comply with the 2015 nuclear deal.

"...we invite Iran to reverse them [steps] and go back to full compliance. I want to be clear on that: we want to see Iran go back to full compliance as it has been in these years," Mogherini said on Monday after the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels.

She said the deal prevented Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, adding: "It has been effective and I think that everybody recognizes that there is today no alternative to that deal."

Mogherini also said it is important to keep the situation calm in the region and to avoid any escalation that might jeopardize the EU’s security.

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.