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Zarif deplores level of EU commitment to JCPOA

09 December 2019 17:39 (UTC +04:00)

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday deplored level of the EU commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), APA reports citing IRNA.

Zarif made the remarks speaking to reporters upon arrival in Turkey to attend the 8th Ministerial Conference of Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process.

Asked about the outcome of the meeting of the Arbitral Joint Commission of the JCPOA held in Vienna, Zarif replied that INSTEX - Instrument In Support Of Trade Exchanges- may be implemented between Iranian and the EU partners in future upon an agreement to the effect.

Three European Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and Britain Jean-Yves Le Drian, Heiko Maas, Jeremy Hunt respectively issued a joint statement on creation of INSTEX on January 31, 2019.

'France, Germany and the United Kingdom, in accordance with their resolute commitment and continued efforts to preserve the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) endorsed by United Nations Security Council resolution 2231, announce the creation of INSTEX (Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) aimed at facilitating legitimate trade between European economic operators and Iran,' the three countries said in their joint statement.

At the Dec 6 joint commission meeting, the issue of dissatisfaction over the Europeans' level of loyalty was expressed clearly by Iran and two non-European states of Russia and China, Zarif stressed.

Elaborating on the meeting, Zarif said it discussed the necessity of "real implementation" of signatories' commitments to the JCPOA.

He further underlined that Iran is always ready to stop its measures taken previously under the Article 36.

Zarif further described the new move by the six members of the European Union (EU) to join INSTEX as positive.

Implementation of INSTEX is what needed to be seen, Zarif noted.

Talking about his Istanbul visit, the foreign minister said Iran enjoys special relations with its neighbors including Turkey.