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UK, France and Germany refuse to lift sanctions on Iran under nuclear deal | The Guardian |
The UK, France and Germany will not lift sanctions on Iran in line with the timetable set out in the 2015 nuclear deal, the governments have announced in a move that will infuriate Tehran and put the continued viability of the deal at even greater risk.
Under the terms of the original deal, some UN sanctions were due to be lifted on 18 October 2023 as part of a sunset clause that would allow Iran to import and export ballistic missiles, including missiles and drones with a range of 300km (186 miles) or more.
In a letter to the EU external affairs chief, Josep Borrell, the three European signatories to the deal, known as E3, said on Thursday that Iran was in such a serious breach of the deal, in terms of levels of stored enriched uranium and allowing UN inspectors access to its nuclear programme, that sanctions relating to its ballistic missile programme had to remain in force.
The E3 said their refusal to lift the sanctions in line with the original sunset clause did not violate the deal because the agreement contained mechanisms in case of any dispute about whether one side was in breach of the agreement.
The EU said it had registered a dispute about Iranian non-compliance in 2020, but Iran had not responded at all, let alone within the agreed deadline of 30 days.
Borrell said he had received the letter, and added: "The foreign ministers state that Iran is in non-compliance since 2019 and consider that this has not been resolved through the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] dispute resolution mechanism. They express their intention not to take the steps regarding the lifting of further sanctions on JCPOA transition day on 18 October 2023."
The UK said it and its partners remained committed to preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, but Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium was at a level "beyond all credible civilian justification".
The UN sanctions that were due to be lifted on 18 October were on individuals and entities involved in Iran's missile, nuclear and other weapons programmes. They will now be incorporated into domestic legislation in the UK, France and Germany.