Rouhani: JCPOA’s Collapse Will Not Benefit Iran, France, World

By Staff, Agencies

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said France and other signatories to a 2015 nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic must do their best to help the accord survive, as its failure will not serve the interests of Iran, France and the entire world.

Rouhani made the remarks in a Monday meeting with the new French ambassador to Iran, Philippe Thiebaud, who submitted his credentials to the country’s president.

Emphasizing Iran's patience since the unilateral withdrawal of US President Donald Trump from the nuclear deal, Rouhani noted that Tehran has remained in the agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA], at the request of France and other members of the European Union to offset the effects of Washington’s pullout from the accord.

“The current conditions are sensitive and France, along with other members of the European Union, still has the opportunity to take advantage of the short time that remains [before the expiry of Iran's deadline to the EU early next month] to play its historical part in maintaining this agreement, because there is no doubt that failure of the JCPOA will not benefit Iran, France, region and the world,” Rouhani stressed.

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China, plus Germany --signed the nuclear agreement on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.

Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.

However, President Trump pulled his country out of the JCPOA in May 2018 and re-imposed harsh sanctions against the Islamic Republic in defiance of global criticisms.

On the first anniversary of the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Iran announced that it would suspend the implementation of some of its commitments under the deal, adding that it would stop exporting excess uranium and heavy water, setting a 60-day deadline for the five remaining parties to the deal to take practical measures towards ensuring its interests in the face of the American sanctions.

The spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said on Monday that the country will surpass the uranium stockpile limit set under the nuclear deal from June 27.