JCPOA Parties Can’t Support US Plan to Extend Iran Arms Embargo: Source
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The remaining parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), cannot support a US plan to extend an arms embargo against Iran because its expiration is a formal and legal part of the deal, a European source said.
“You won’t see the E3 (three European parties to the nuclear deal) signing up for that because the arms embargo end is a legitimate part of the JCPOA,” the source said.
It came after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he is preparing a legal argument that Washington would remain a participant in the JCPOA –already renounced by the US president- as part of an intricate strategy to pressure the UN Security Council to extend the arms embargo on Tehran.
According to Pompeo’s plan, expected to be opposed by many of the US’ European allies, Washington would, in essence, claim it legally remains a “participant state” in the nuclear accord only for the purposes of invoking a “snapback” that would restore the UN sanctions on Iran that were in place before the nuclear deal.
Russia has already told American and European officials it is eager to resume conventional arms sales to Iran.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif took a swipe at Pompeo after he claimed that Washington had not quit the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers and remained a “participant state”.
“2 yrs ago, @SecPompeo and his boss declared “CEASING US participation” in JCPOA, dreaming that their ‘max pressure’ would bring Iran to its knees. Given that policy’s abject failure, he now wants to be JCPOA participant. Stop dreaming: Iranian Nation always decides its destiny,” Zarif tweeted on Monday.
Meanwhile, Peter Stano, the European Commission spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, pointed out that the “US has not participated in any meetings or activities within the framework of the JCPOA” since withdrawing in May 2018, but said in a statement to CNN that they “do not comment on reports of possible positions the US, or other UN members might take, regarding the JCPOA.”
“The US pulled out of the JCPOA,” another European diplomat said. “Either you’re in or you’re out. You cannot cherry pick. ... Either you implement it or not.”