Iran's Government: Europe Must Unconditionally Fulfill Its Commitments Regarding the JCPOA

The Iranian government has urged European countries to take necessary actions to 'safeguard' the JCPOA agreement and to fulfill their commitments 'without any conditions.' This request was made in a statement following the announcement of the United States' withdrawal from the agreement and the reinstatement of U.S. nuclear sanctions against Iran in the coming months. This request comes even as European parties have stated they remain committed to the JCPOA. However, leaders from France, the UK, and Germany have previously expressed concerns about Iran's regional activities and Tehran's missile program. The statement reads that 'other parties to the JCPOA, especially the three European countries, are obliged to take necessary actions to safeguard the JCPOA [and] to implement their commitments unconditionally from the promise stage to the execution stage.' The government also added that European countries 'were unable to fully implement it even during the formal presence of the United States in the JCPOA due to the disruptions caused by the Trump regime.' Previously, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic had stated that he does not trust the European leaders involved in the JCPOA and had asked the government to obtain 'practical guarantees' from them to fulfill their commitments. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, 'I do not trust these three countries (Germany, the UK, and France) either... If you want to make a contract, we must get practical guarantees; otherwise, they will do the same as the Americans... If you cannot obtain a definitive guarantee, then the JCPOA cannot continue.' The government statement also declared that the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA is 'illegal' and that his statements regarding Iran are 'absurd' and 'indicative of the utmost ignorance and foolishness and baseless accusations' against the Islamic Republic. The government has described U.S. sovereignty as 'aggressive' and stated that this country has 'plunged the Middle East into chaos and fueled extremism and terrorism, and its Zionist allies have crossed the borders of cruelty, human rights violations, and aggression, and their dependent proxies are the founders of all terrorist groups that Trump absurdly attributed to the Islamic Republic of Iran.' They referred to the U.S. President's statements upon announcing Washington's withdrawal from the JCPOA, claiming that 'the Iranian regime is the main state sponsor of terrorism. It exports dangerous missiles, pours gasoline on the fire of conflict across the Middle East, and supports terrorist groups and militias such as Hezbollah, Hamas, the Taliban, and Al-Qaeda.' Trump also stated that 'Iran and its agents have targeted U.S. embassies and military bases for years, killed hundreds of American forces, and kidnapped, tortured, and imprisoned American citizens. The Iranian regime has long funded its chaotic and terroristic governance by plundering the wealth of its own people.' In the Iranian government's statement, referring to Trump's criticisms of the JCPOA since the election campaign, the U.S. withdrawal is interpreted as 'the end of the U.S. disruptive presence in the JCPOA,' and Trump is reminded that changing presidents does not exempt one from a global agreement. The government emphasized that Iran has fulfilled its commitments, which have also been confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and labeled Trump's statements about Iran's nuclear activities as 'baseless claims and ridiculous propaganda shows.' Mr. Trump, who has always called the JCPOA 'the worst' agreement in U.S. history, has also stated that 'at the heart of the Iran agreement lies a great hidden myth that said a murderous regime only wants a peaceful nuclear program.' He added, 'Today, we have definitive evidence that everything Iran promised was a lie. Last week, Israel released intelligence documents that had long been hidden by Iran, all indicating the regime's intent and history in pursuing nuclear weapons.' This refers to statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a few days before the announcement of the U.S. withdrawal, in which he claimed, showing some documents and a CD, that Iran was seeking to build a nuclear bomb. The Iranian government has announced that Tehran will pursue the U.S. action of withdrawing from the JCPOA according to the regulations and provisions of the JCPOA, and if the U.S. withdrawal is not compensated and 'the full interests of the Iranian people based on the JCPOA' are not secured, 'it will exercise its legal right to take reciprocal action as it sees fit.' The Iranian government emphasized that 'none of the provisions of the JCPOA and its timeline, which was the subject of 12 years of negotiations, is negotiable in any form,' and the United States 'cannot dictate terms regarding the legal presence of the Islamic Republic of Iran in its region and Tehran's effective support for the people of Syria and Iraq in suppressing the extremists fostered by its proxies.' The Islamic Republic's missile program is also described in this statement as a 'legitimate defensive tool,' and given the 'sale of hundreds of billions of dollars of advanced American weapons' to regional countries, this country 'cannot impose any restrictions' on Iran in this regard. Donald Trump's statements regarding Iran's missile activities have always met with strong reactions from Iranian officials and military personnel. Military commanders have stated that they will never submit to 'missile disarmament,' and Hassan Rouhani has recently said that Iran will 'produce and stockpile as much weaponry, capabilities, and missiles as the country needs,' and 'it is nobody's business.' Furthermore, the Islamic Republic has repeatedly stated that it assists these countries at the request of the leaders of Iraq and Syria and, based on its foreign policy principles, does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.