News- Middle East: The European parties to the JCPOA are in no legal or moral position to activate the 2015 nuclear deal's so-called snapback mechanism, considering their non-compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, according to the Iranian envoy to the IAEA.

Addressing the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting on Wednesday, Reza Najafi said Britain, Germany, and France (E3) have failed to abide by their JCPOA commitments to lift the anti-Iran sanctions and cannot invoke the deal's dispute resolution mechanism.

Najafi cited the E3's refusal to honor their obligation to remove sanctions that should've been removed on the JCPOA's Transition Day, which fell on October 18, 2023.

Moreover, the European parties have imposed even more restrictions on Iran in gross violation of the JCPOA and UNSC Resolution 2231, which supports the deal, Najafi said.  

Under the dispute resolution mechanism, all the anti-Iran UN sanctions suspended under the accord will be restored if one of the five permanent members of the Security Council believes Tehran is violating the JCPOA.

The European parties to the deal have recently suggested they could activate the mechanism in response to what they call Iran's failure to abide by its JCPOA commitments.

The 2015 nuclear deal, which stipulated the suspension of anti-Iran sanctions in return for confidence-building restrictions on Tehran's nuclear work, was derailed by the unilateral US withdrawal in 2018.

Iran waited for over a year for the three European parties to the accord to make up for the US withdrawal, but to no avail.

The country later started walking back on some of its nuclear commitments as per the accord, which allows the two sides to reciprocate non-compliance.

Tehran says it has not violated the accord and that its reduced commitments are a legal response to the US withdrawal from the accord.

'Iran's response to be decisive'

The Iranian envoy warned that any measure by the E3 or the US against the UNSC Resolution 2231 or any fresh sanctions on Iran by the council will have serious consequences.

"Under such a scenario, Iran's options will be decisive, as previously told to other JCPOA parties, and the United States and the three European states will bear all the responsibility," he said.

Najafi also touched on Iran's indirect talks with the US on its nuclear program, saying the country has shown it is serious to reach a "fair, lasting and effective" accord.

"I want to emphasize that the Islamic Republic of Iran believes that if its inalienable rights, including domestic enrichment, are respected and recognized, a diplomatic solution will be within reach," he said.

Iran and the US are currently holding indirect talks on a replacement for the 2015 deal.

The sixth round of the negotiations will be held on Sunday.

Source: Press TV