Brussels/Tehran, Feb 25 (IANS) The remaining parties to a landmark nuclear deal signed in 2015 between Iran and six world powers will hold a Joint Commission meeting in Vienna on Wednesday, the European Union’s (EU) diplomatic service says.
“The Joint Commission will be chaired on behalf of the EU High Representative Josep Borrell Fontelles by EEAS (European External Action Service) Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid and will be attended by representatives of China, France, Germany, Russia, the UK and Iran,” Press TV quoted the EEAS as saying in a statement on Monday.
The meeting comes as the EU3, the three European signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal, had last month accused Iran of violating the terms of the accord and announced that they planned to trigger a dispute settlement mechanism that could eventually restore UN Security Council sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Under the mechanism outlined in the deal, the EU should also inform the other parties — Russia and China — as well as Iran itself.
There would then be 15 days to resolve the differences through the JCPOA Joint Commission. If no settlement is reached through the commission, Foreign Ministers of the involved countries will then discuss them for another 15 days.
If the need arises, an advisory board will be formed to help the Ministers.
The historic deal has been slowly crumbling since US President Donald Trump withdrew from it in May 2018 and re-imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, Press TV reported.
After months of gradual steps to reduce compliance, Iran announced on January 5 that it would take the fifth and final step in scale back its commitments under the nuclear accord to both retaliate for Washington’s departure, and trigger the EU3 to respect their obligations towards Tehran.
–IANS
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