Iran Declares End to Nuclear Deal Restrictions as 2015 JCPOA Expires

Reuters

Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021.

Iran announced on Saturday that it is no longer bound by the restrictions imposed under the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers, officially marking the expiry of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

In a statement, Iran’s Foreign Ministry declared that “all of the provisions of the deal, including the restrictions on the Iranian nuclear programme and the related mechanisms, are considered terminated.”

“Iran firmly expresses its commitment to diplomacy,” the Foreign Ministry added.

The JCPOA, brokered in 2015 between Iran and major world powers — including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and China — sought to curb Tehran’s nuclear activities, uranium enrichment and research capabilities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. The agreement formally expired on Saturday, ten years after its endorsement by the United Nations Security Council.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the JCPOA in 2018, reinstating heavy sanctions on Tehran and prompting Iran to gradually scale back its compliance.

Subsequent efforts to revive the accord have repeatedly stalled. Iran suspended its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in June after coordinated U.S. and Israeli airstrikes targeted several of its nuclear facilities.

In August, the United Kingdom, France and Germany jointly informed the UN Security Council that Iran was in “significant violation” of the nuclear deal, triggering the automatic reinstatement of suspended international sanctions under the agreement’s “snapback mechanism.”

The three European powers announced last week that they would resume talks aimed at achieving a “comprehensive, durable and verifiable agreement.”

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran does "not see any reason to negotiate" with the Europeans, given they triggered the snapback mechanism to automatically reimpose sanctions.

Sources: DW, AFP



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