Rouhani on Wednesday evening and during a meeting with Emmanuel Bonne, France's top diplomat and diplomatic adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron, while appreciating the activities undertaken by the French president and his message, underlined that “Iran has fully kept open the path of diplomacy and negotiations and "we hope that the parties to the JCPOA will use this opportunity well to reach the ideal point, namely full implementation of the nuclear deal".
The president emphasized, “The main goal of the Islamic Republic of Iran is that the commitments set out in the JCPOA to be fully implemented by the parties, and if the parties fulfill their obligations, Iran will take further steps in fulfilling its obligations."
Bonne presented the written message of French president Emmanuel Macron to his Iranian counterpart.
On Sunday, Tehran said that at the second phase of its measures to preserve the nuclear deal, it officially enriched uranium beyond the 3.67 percent limit that is set by the deal. The first stage came on the anniversary of the US withdrawal from the JCPOA on May 8, 2018 when Iran announced it reduces its commitments to the deal.
If the European signatories to the nuclear deal do not go beyond their "speech therapy", Tehran will take the next step more strongly, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.
"The third step will be taken in 60 days," Abbas Mousavi told reporters.
"If the remaining countries, particularly the Europeans, do not fulfill their commitments and continue their speech-therapy and mere words, we will take stronger steps," he said, referring to the measures Iran has taken to reduce its commitments to the nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The third step, he said, will also be taken within the legal framework of the Articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA, unless some parties take unexpected, bizarre measures.
Under such circumstances, the country will take a main step instead of the third one, he said.
"We have repeatedly said that whenever we feel the efforts being made will meet our needs and demands, then the measures will be reversible," Mousavi said.
A day after Iran said it has reduced commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to reciprocate the EU inaction to remedy broken trade and banking ties, Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said that the new level of nuclear enrichment stands at 4.5%.
Kamalvandi made the remarks speaking to IRNA correspondent on Monday.
Based on the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal with six world powers, Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear enrichment level to 3.67%.
Just a year after the US exit from the multinational accord in May 2018, Iran announced it will suspend some of its commitments under the deal. The country said it will no longer send its surplus uranium and heavy water to foreign countries.
Iran also warned that it will carry out further suspensions of its nuclear commitments if the other parties to the deal fail to take practical steps to honor their pledges after 60 days.
Iran says its measures are in line with Articles 26 and 36 of the nuclear deal and argues that it aims to save the deal that has been already breached by the US.
After the end of the 60-day deadline, Iran took its second step in suspending some nuclear commitments and said it has surpassed the 3.67% limit for nuclear enrichment.
9455**2050
Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish