Iran announces official end to 10-year-old nuclear agreement | Iran
The international agreement with Iran designed to protect the world from the proliferation of atomic weapons has officially ended, with Tehran announcing the end of the ten-year deal.
Iran said on Saturday it was no longer bound by the 2015 agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), under which international sanctions were lifted in exchange for curbs on Tehran’s nuclear program.
Now “all provisions [of the 2015 deal]In the statement made by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was stated that all sanctions, including restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and related mechanisms, were considered to have been terminated.
But he added that the country “unequivocally expressed its commitment to diplomacy.”
The agreement, signed in Vienna by Iran, China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, hoped to end years of diplomatic standoff and mark the beginning of a new era in relations between Iran and the West.
Although the deal officially expires on Saturday, it has been in turmoil for years.
In 2018, during his first term as president, Donald Trump upset his European allies by unilaterally removing the United States from the agreement and reimposing sanctions. He disliked the agreement signed by one of his predecessors, Barack Obama, and was discouraged from diplomacy by Iran’s arch-enemy Israel.
After the US withdrawal, Tehran began to accelerate its nuclear program.
European-led talks to revive the agreement have failed, and Israeli and US bomb attacks on Iran this summer have sunk hopes of revival to historic lows.
After 12 days of war in June, Iran’s parliament passed a bill refusing to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear oversight agency.
This triggered the so-called “return” process of signatories Britain, Germany and France, leading to the reimposition of UN sanctions. The clawback provision allows for the rapid and automatic reimposition of all UN sanctions lifted under the deal if Iran significantly violates its nuclear commitments.
These withdrawal sanctions established the formality of a “termination day” set for October 18, exactly 10 years after the adoption of UN Security Council resolution 2231.
Last month, when withdrawal sanctions came into force, British, French and German foreign ministers said in a joint statement that they would continue to seek “a new diplomatic solution to ensure Iran never acquires nuclear weapons.”
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said sanctions “should not be the end of diplomacy” and that “a sustainable solution to the Iran nuclear issue can only be achieved through negotiations.”
Trump on Monday said he wants a peace deal with Iran, while Tehran has repeatedly said it is open to diplomacy with the United States as long as Washington guarantees against military intervention during any potential talks.
All three European powers announced last week that they would seek to restart negotiations to find a “comprehensive, lasting and verifiable agreement.”
Yet relations between the West and Iran remain tense. Washington had already imposed major sanctions, including forcing all countries to stay away from Iranian oil. Several rounds of negotiations between Tehran and Washington this year, mediated by Oman, failed to reach an agreement.
Iran’s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said last week that Tehran “does not see any reason to negotiate” with European powers as they trigger the return mechanism.
Western governments and Israel have long accused Iran of trying to obtain nuclear weapons, an allegation Tehran denies, saying its program is energy and civilian focused.
Iran is expected to mark the day of termination with a statement at the UN in New York on Saturday.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
