While on the evening of Tuesday July 2, Europe called on Iran to respect the nuclear agreement, on Wednesday, July 3, President Hassan Rohani announced his country's intention to continue resuming nuclear activities prohibited by the Joint Action Plan (JCPOA).
In a message broadcast on Iranian television, Mr Rohani announced Iran's intention, as of 7 July, to produce enriched uranium above the JCPOA's maximum allowable threshold of 3.67% and to resume its initial heavy water reactor project at Arak, halted under the agreement.
"If you want to express regret, it is too late, and if you need to issue a press release, do it now", he told the remaining members of the agreement: Germany, France, United Kingdom (known as E3), China and Russia. This remark seems aimed at Europe.
The day before, in a joint statement, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, and the E3 Foreign Ministers had highlighted their "extreme concern" about Iran's announcement that it had exceeded the 300 kg limit of uranium enriched to 3.67%. Announcement confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The Europeans therefore urged Iran "to reverse this decision and refrain from taking any further action that compromises the nuclear agreement". They had also warned that they would urgently consider next steps under the JCPOA, "in close coordination with other participants" in the Plan. In the long run, the United Nations Security Council could reimpose international sanctions on Iran.
"We have been consistent and clear on the fact that our commitment to the nuclear agreement depends on Iran's full compliance", they noted, lamenting Iran's decision, "which calls into question an essential instrument of nuclear non-proliferation".
The Iranians have repeatedly denounced the lack of European measures to compensate for the economic consequences of US sanctions, stressing that they would respect their commitments under the agreement when the other parties to the agreement did the same.
Iran has triggered Article 36 of the JCPOA, which allows it to denounce non-compliance with the agreement by an E3+3 member, as was the case with the United States. According to this article, if the problem is not resolved in a way that satisfies the complainant, the complainant may consider "the unresolved issue as grounds for ceasing to honour in whole or in part the commitments made by it under this Agreement". This is the position being defended by Tehran. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)