EU confirms Iran’s commitment to the nuclear deal, urging the US not to go ahead with sanctions

Tabnak – While the Israeli regime and the United States are trying to introduce Iran’s decision to speed up nuclear enrichment as opposed to the nuclear deal, the European parties of the deal verify Iran’s commitment to the deal. They are at the same time trying to find a way out of US sanctions in order to continue dealing with Iran.

In this vein, the European Union says a "first assessment" indicated that Iran's declared intention to increase uranium enrichment capacity did not violate Tehran's commitments under a landmark nuclear agreement it signed with major world powers in 2015.

A spokeswoman for the European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Tuesday that Iran's decision did not constitute a breach of the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"Following a first assessment, the announced steps per se are not a violation of the JCPOA," Maja Kocijancic told AFP. "However, at this particularly critical juncture, they will not contribute to build confidence in the nature of the Iranian nuclear program," she claimed.

At the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron has said that there is "no indication" of Iran breaching the nuclear deal. Macron made remarks during a press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

"If you consider it insufficient but that it's a step forward from what exist before, it's better to keep it," he added. Macron went on to stress the importance of deescalating the situation in order to avoid conflict.

He called on "everyone to stabilize the situation and not give into this escalation which would lead to only one thing: conflict." He further noted that it was solid common sense that Washington's move in ditching the deal would not encourage other parties to respect their obligations.

Meanwhile, major European powers as well as the European Union have written a letter to the United States, urging Washington not to go ahead with its planned “secondary sanctions” against European firms doing business in Iran.

Foreign ministers from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the European Union’s top diplomat Federica Mogherini addressed the message to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday, reported The Wall Street Journal, which has reviewed the letter dated June 4.

The ministers said their governments seek to keep up the sanctions relief against Tehran despite Washington’s withdrawal from the deal. “In their current state, US secondary sanctions could prevent the European Union from continuing meaningful sanctions relief to Iran,” they warned.

The letter repeated previous warnings of potential security upshots from the deal’s likely extermination, noting, “As allies, we expect that the United States will refrain from taking action to harm Europe’s security interests.”

It should be noted that Washington has in recent weeks stepped up its campaign of fearmongering among European firms, threatening them with punitive measures should they continue dealing with Iran once American sanctions are back.