Zarif Threatens to Increase Uranium Enrichment While Remaining in the JCPOA

Iran's Foreign Minister threatened the European Union that if there is no balance between Iran's achievements and data from the Vienna nuclear agreement, the Islamic Republic will increase its uranium enrichment percentage while remaining in the JCPOA. Mohammad Javad Zarif, in an interview with the weekly Spiegel, urged Europe to compensate for the impacts of U.S. sanctions and criticized the EU for not taking sufficient actions in this regard. Previously, President Hassan Rouhani and other officials of the Islamic Republic had threatened that 'if Iran cannot benefit from this agreement, remaining in it will practically be impossible.' In this interview, Zarif also warned that if there is no balance between what Iran has gained from the nuclear agreement and what it has given, the Islamic Republic will be forced to react. He stated that Iran does not need to exit the Vienna nuclear agreement but can reduce its actions based on this agreement. Zarif mentioned that one way to do this is by increasing uranium enrichment. The Iranian Foreign Minister did not specify how the Islamic Republic could increase its uranium enrichment percentage while remaining in the Vienna nuclear agreement. He only claimed that Article 36 of the JCPOA and UN Security Council Resolution 2231 allow Iran to reduce its compliance level with this agreement without exiting it. Zarif's reference to Article 36 of the JCPOA is notable since this article only mentions the Joint Commission of the JCPOA, which discusses Iran's nuclear commitments and other obligations outlined in the JCPOA and its issues. Iranian officials have previously threatened that if the JCPOA collapses, Iran would increase enrichment from four percent to 20 percent and higher. Before the JCPOA, Iran enriched uranium up to 3.5 percent and at one point above 20 percent. Zarif described banking transactions and Iran's oil purchases as a 'litmus test' for Europe's actions regarding compensating for the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA. He also urged the European Union to punish companies that exit Iran due to U.S. sanctions. Iranian officials have stated that oil purchases and banking transactions are Iran's main expectations from the European Union. However, Europe's daily oil purchases from Iran, which were about 740,000 barrels in March, dropped to 387,000 barrels in August. According to reports from two German media outlets, France, Britain, and Germany are trying to establish a special financial institution to facilitate trade with Iran after the implementation of U.S. economic sanctions against Tehran. These reports indicate that this financial institution would act as an exchange and could facilitate trade between Iranian and European economic parties through exchanges and financial credit transfers. The leader of the Islamic Republic emphasized on September 7 that 'any negotiations with the Americans are off the table' and stated that Hassan Rouhani's government should not have hope in Europe regarding the JCPOA and the economy. Following that, Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, announced that Tehran has given European countries until November 5 to provide a practical solution for oil purchases and trade with Iran.