In an exclusive interview with IRNA, Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday that the Europeans failed to fulfill their commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and did not implement the commitments they made after the US exited the deal. After the US withdrawal, Europe made commitments twice, yet did not execute even one of those 11 commitments; therefore, the Europeans are not in a position to make claims against Iran, and for this reason, the resolution passed in the Board of Governors has no legal standing and is legally baseless.
Regarding the European’s measures concerning the implementation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Zarif noted that the Europeans sided with the United States; although they opposed the US in declarations and statements, they took no action. Europe's commitments to Iran were not contingent upon the fulfillment of commitments by the US but were dependent on the execution of commitments by Iran, he added.
As for the commencement of negotiations between deputy foreign ministers of Iran and European countries, which are slated for starting on Friday, Zarif emphasized that dialogue can always be a solution; of course, the other party (the European Union) must step away from a superior position and the notion that they define the global norms. Europeans are not norm-centered; just look at how they deal with the crimes of the Zionist regime in Palestine, Gaza, and Lebanon. Thus, they are not in a position to consider themselves the center of norm-setting for the world.
Referring to the recent remarks of the advisor to the Supreme Leader Ali Larijani, the former foreign minister said that Iran did not exit the JCPOA; it consistently stated its readiness to adhere to the deal, and Tehran acted within the framework of the agreement, but the United States withdrew from the JCPOA and violated its commitments.
However, the basis for a new agreement will certainly be the JCPOA, an agreement that has been worked on for months and perhaps tens of thousands of hours in Iran, the US, Europe, Russia, and China, he argued, adding that this agreement, according to the Europeans, is one of the most important diplomatic achievements in the world.
Zarif concluded that it is in the best interest of all parties to not only halt this detrimental process, which effectively yields a negative sum, but also to reverse it because a zero-sum outcome in international relations is fundamentally meaningless.
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