TEHRAN – Iran on Monday slammed as “wrong” and “ill-con- sidered” the joint statement issued by Germany, France and the United Kingdom on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Speaking at a weekly presser,

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Tehran did its best in the negotiation process and acted “constructively” to reach an agreement.

“An agreement is a two-way street. It was expected that the oth- er negotiating parties would also act constructively.”

The three European parties to the JCPOA in a press release on Sat- urday questioned Iran’s intentions and commitment to a successful outcome on the JCPOA over Iran’s calls for a settlement of Safeguards issues between Tehran and the In- ternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iran ratified the Nuclear Nonpro- liferation Treaty (NPT) in 1970, which requires nonnuclear-weapon states to accept comprehensive IAEA safeguards. Also, as a good- will gesture, Iran voluntarily chose to have extensive cooperation with the UN nuclear agency, beyond the

safeguards agreement.

Back in June, Iran decided to stop its voluntary cooperation with the UN nuclear agency, while stress- ing that its commitments under the agreement will continue.

Iran and the IAEA are currently locked in a dispute triggered by the agency’s Israeli-influenced accusa- tions, which were leveled against Tehran’s peaceful nuclear activi- ties just as the Islamic Republic and other parties to the Iran deal appeared close to an agreement on reviving the JCPOA.

Iran asserts that an agreement on the revival of the nuclear deal hinges on the settlement of safe- guards issues between Tehran and the IAEA and that without settling those issues, reviving the 2015 ac- cord makes no sense.

Kanaani said that the IAEA’s fre- quent reports have confirmed the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, urging the agency to act “professionally” and without any pressure exerted by a third party

– making an apparent reference to the occupying regime of Israel.

It was “unfortunate” that the Eu- ropean trio has been “influenced by pressure exerted by a regime that is not a member to any of the comprehensive safeguard agree- 

ments of the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Kanaani said.

He noted that Iran is waiting for “an official response” from the United States to its opinion on the U.S.’s own response to the Europe- an Union’s draft text for the revival of the deal.

The spokesman called on Wash- ington to adopt a “constructive be- havior” to reach an agreement.

He underscored that “It is Amer- ica that must prove that it is a reli- able member,” considering that it is the party that quit the JCPOA.

He also noted that Iran has not made any new demands in its lat- est response and that an agreement on the revival of the nuclear deal would depend on the political will of the other negotiating parties.

The United States unilaterally withdrew from the landmark deal in 2018 and reinstated crippling sanctions under the so-called “maximum pressure” campaign, despite Iran’s full compliance with the deal.

The Austrian capital has been hosting multiple rounds of talks since April last year between the signatories of the JCPOA in or- der to examine the prospect of the deal’s revival and removal of the illegal economic sanctions.