Coveney told Al-Jazeera TV on April 4 that his country has played a role as a facilitator to pave the ground for reviving the nuclear agreement.
"Ireland has a formal role of facilitator on the Security Council for what is called the Resolution 2231, which is essentially the basis for the Iranian nuclear deal or the JCPOA as it is called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)," he said.
Pointing to the role of the Trump administration in derailing the path of implementing the international deal, Coveney said, "Unfortunately, in 2018 the previous US administration decided that the JCPOA was something that they could no longer support and that was replaced in Washington at least by a maximum pressure policy, which essentially replaced trying to ensure that the JCPOA was working with really tough sanctions to put Iran under pressure for a whole series of reasons."
"So, Ireland has put its hand up to say that we would play a facilitator role on the Security Council on this issue to help bridge the gaps that remain to ensure that we can get people talking and we can find a way forward and a political sequencing which I think is what is necessary to see Iran's return to full compliance and the US take a position that removes the sanctions that are linked to the JCPOA issues from Iran," he added.
The minister further ruled out claims that the way forward to revive the deal is uncomplicated, emphasizing, "Anybody who assumes that it is an easy process to bring Iran back into full compliance with the conditions of the JCPOA, I think they do not understand the complexity of politics in Iran."
However, he noted, "The window is very tight, you know, because electioneering will certainly be very much underway in May; so, we really have a month or five weeks or so to try to make progress on this issue."
He emphasized that so much has changed since 2015, adding that "the point that Iran would make is that they were committed to the JCPOA, they were not the ones that broke the deal and so they are essential for the US to be the first mover if you like."
"Both sides have to understand the political challenges of getting this done for each other and that is why it is important that there are countries that want to act as facilitators and that others that are involved in the JCPOA, particularly the E3 countries Germany, France, and the UK are as proactive as they can be in terms of trying to get a dialogue in place again that can allow us to take the steps necessary and create some positive momentum because the world needs a big good news story right now," the Irish FM concluded.
The 18th Joint Commission of the JCPOA was held with the online presence of representatives from Iran and the P4+1 group on Friday. The next meeting is scheduled to be held in person in Vienna on Tuesday.
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