Iran Planning 3rd Step to Reduce Nuclear Commitments: Spokesman

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi highlighted the continued failure of the European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal to live up to their obligations, and said the Islamic Republic is planning the third step to reduce its nuclear commitments.

“Up to now, consultations on the implementation of the European commitments have failed,” Mousavi told reporters during his weekly press briefing on Monday.

“Efforts are underway, of course; (French President Emmanuel) Macron is making efforts,” he said, adding that Iran is waiting for the possible outcomes of diplomatic efforts before its 60-day deadline set for the Europeans ends.

“The third step is being planned commensurate with the actions of the other side,” the spokesman went on to say.

Last month, Iran declared the second step to reduce its commitments by ramping up the level of uranium enrichment to over 3.67 percent.

Iran maintains that the new measures are not designed to harm the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but to save the accord by creating a balance in the commitments.

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.

Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said on Tuesday that the country’s enriched uranium stockpile has reached 360 to 370 kilograms.