Russia, Germany, France urge preserving JCPOA

Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday during a phone conversation urged the necessity to preserve the historic pact, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the Kremlin said in a statement.

"During the discussion of the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program, the importance of preserving this agreement, which is a key factor in maintaining international stability and security, was noted. Russia, France and Germany reaffirmed their commitment to further mutually beneficial cooperation with Iran in trade and economy," the statement said.       

Since the US unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA last year, Washington has reinstated sanctions against Iran, targeting mainly its oil sector.

Other signatories to the Iran nuclear deal, China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia, the United Kingdom and the European Union, have slammed Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA stressing that the reinstatement of sanctions threatens not only Iran itself but also countries and companies that stay continue doing business with Tehran.

Having that in mind, these countries agreed that a special mechanism, dubbed the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), would be created to facilitate trade between companies and Iran amid the sanctions by Washington.

However, the long-awaited mechanism is yet to become operational, despite Iran’s call on the Europeans to fulfill their obligations to the deal.

Earlier this month, Iran reduced some of its commitments to the deal in the face of Washington’s ramped-up pressures, giving the five remaining parties to the nuclear deal a 60-day ultimatum to comply with their commitments, particularly those regarding Iran’s economic interests in the banking and energy sectors before the country would start reducing portions of its own commitments to the agreement stage by stage.

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