The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, underlined on behalf of the EU, on Thursday 25 February, the Union’s deep concern regarding Iran’s decision to suspend the provisional application of the Additional Protocol, as well as the additional transparency provisions provided for in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as of 23 February 2021 (see EUROPE 12664/5).
“Unless reversed, this decision will substantially restrict the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) ability to verify that nuclear material and activities in Iran remain for exclusively peaceful purposes”, the High Representative worried, reiterating his call on Tehran to cease and reverse all actions inconsistent with its commitments under the JCPOA.
Mr Borrell also took note of the temporary bilateral technical agreement between the IAEA and Iran which, “according to the IAEA’s Director General Grossi, will mitigate reduced access and allow for necessary monitoring and verification activities to continue for up to three months”.
Recalling the EU’s full support for the work of the IAEA, Mr Borrell stressed the Europeans’ conviction that full and timely cooperation by Iran with the Agency remains crucial to ensure the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme.
The EU expresses its determination to continue working with the international community to preserve the JCPOA and ensure its full implementation, welcoming the prospect of a return of the United States to the agreement and the return of Iran’s full implementation. “We strongly support the ongoing intense diplomatic efforts, and the contacts of the High Representative of the Union as JCPOA Coordinator with all relevant partners”, add the EU27.
The Union is ready to invite the participants in the JCPOA and the United States to an informal meeting to discuss the follow-up, but has yet to obtain the agreement of all. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)