TEHRAN -- Iran has strongly condemned a recent statement issued by three European countries on Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program as absurd and based on false allegations.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the statement released by the UK, France and Germany lacks credibility.
“As it has been announced time and again, Iran’s nuclear program has a completely peaceful nature and nuclear weapons have no place in Iran’s military and defense doctrine,” the ministry said.
“It is ironic that those countries, which have followed a political and unconstructive approach [to Iran’s nuclear program] and are responsible for the current situation of the JCPOA, are now accusing Iran of hollowing out the agreement.”
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, was a multilateral international agreement signed between Iran and five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany in 2015, which required Iran to scale back some of its nuclear activities in return for the lifting of cruel sanctions imposed on the country, especially by the United States.
However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement in May 2018, imposing severe economic sanctions against Tehran while Iran was adhering to its commitments under the deal and even continued to do so for a year after the U.S. withdrawal.
Tehran started to reduce its commitments under the JCPOA in a series of pre-announced and clear steps after witnessing the other parties’ failure to secure its interests under the agreement.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany condemned what they called “the latest steps” taken by Iran “to further expand its nuclear program.”
They also accused Iran of taking “further steps in hollowing out the JCPOA, by operating dozens of additional advanced centrifuges at the Natanz enrichment site as well as announcing it will install thousands more centrifuges at both its Fordow and Natanz sites.”
In its statement, the Foreign Ministry emphasized that Iran is committed to continuation of its constructive interaction and technical cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) within framework of its rights and obligations and “will continue its peaceful nuclear projects based on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Safeguards Agreement.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always been ready to engage in interaction and constructive dialogue, and believes that show of goodwill and avoiding futile and failed political measures that were taken in the past, in addition to display of seriousness and a pragmatic approach are necessary for all involved parties in order to deal with issues at hand,” the ministry said.