European countries to trigger Iran nuclear deal dispute mechanism

Protesters chant slogans while holding up posters of Gen. Qassem Soleimani during a demonstration in front of the British Embassy in Tehran. Picture: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP

Protesters chant slogans while holding up posters of Gen. Qassem Soleimani during a demonstration in front of the British Embassy in Tehran. Picture: Ebrahim Noroozi/AP

Published Jan 14, 2020

Share

Paris/London - Britain, France and Germany

will trigger the dispute resolution mechanism in the 2015

nuclear deal with Iran, two European diplomats said on Tuesday,

the biggest step the Europeans have taken in response as Tehran

has backed off nuclear commitments.

In one of the strongest calls yet from Europe for a new

agreement to replace the 2015 deal that Washington abandoned two

years ago, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the way

forward was to agree a new "Trump deal".

Washington's European allies have tried to keep the nuclear

agreement from collapsing since President Donald Trump pulled

the United States out of it in 2018. Under the agreement,

international sanctions against Iran were lifted in return for

Tehran agreeing to curbs on its nuclear programme.

But Washington has reimposed sanctions, denying Iran most of

the economic benefits. Iran has responded by gradually exceeding

many of the limitations it had signed up to in the deal. This

month it said it would abandon limits on its production of

enriched uranium, a step the Europeans said was likely to force

them to respond.

The European diplomats said Britain, France and Germany

would notify the European Union later on Tuesday that they were

triggering the dispute resolution mechanism.

Under the mechanism outlined in the deal, the EU would then

inform the other parties - Russia and China as well as Iran

itself. There would then be 15 days to resolve the differences,

a deadline which can be extended by consensus.

The process can ultimately lead to a "snapback" - the

reimposition of sanctions in place under previous U.N.

resolutions.

CREDIBILITY

"At one point we have to show our credibility," said one of

the European diplomats. The second diplomat said: "Our intention

is not to restore sanctions, but to resolve our differences

through the very mechanism that was created in the deal."

Washington's exit from the nuclear pact, and the severe

economic distress caused by the U.S. sanctions that followed,

have fed one of the biggest escalations in hostility between the

United States and Iran since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

That has accelerated sharply since Jan. 3, when the United

States killed the most powerful Iranian military commander,

Qassem Soleimani, in a drone strike in Baghdad.

On Jan. 8, Iran accidentally shot down a Ukrainian airliner

while its forces were on high alert following strikes on U.S.

targets. After days of denials, the Iranian authorities

acknowledged responsibility for the crash, and have since faced

days of anti-government demonstrations at home.

Trump says his aim in quitting the nuclear deal was to force

Iran to sign up to a more stringent pact. Tehran says it will

not renegotiate as long as U.S. sanctions are in place.

Britain's Johnson, a conservative who has pitched himself as

an ally of Trump who can help bridge the diplomatic gap between

the United States and Europe, said he wanted to avoid a military

conflict with Iran.

"Let's dial this thing down," he said in an interview with

the BBC.

On the deal, he said: "If we're going to get rid of it,

let's replace it and let's replace it with the Trump deal...

President Trump is a great dealmaker, by his own account. Let's

work together to replace the JCPOA and get the Trump deal

instead." 

Reuters

Related Topics:

iran