small glimmers of hope for Iran & the JCPOA

‘No Room for Political Games at IAEA: Iranian President , March, 04, 2021, tasnim news english (CC)

“Iranian President Hassan Rouhani cautioned the European troika to avoid politicizing Iran’s case at the International Atomic Energy Agency as the UK, France and Germany are pushing for a resolution against Tehran in the UN nuclear agency’s Board of Governors.

“The (International Atomic Energy) Agency is not a venue for political games. Political games must be abandoned. The Agency is a place for technical work,” the Iranian president said on Thursday after inaugurating a number of projects carried out by the Interior Ministry.

Highlighting Iran’s close cooperation with the IAEA, Rouhani lashed out at the three European states for pressing on with the anti-Iranian resolution at the IAEA.

“I advise them not to do that,” the president added.

Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog have reached a good agreement, he noted, stressing that Iran’s nuclear activities are hundred percent peaceful.

Following a recent visit to Tehran by the IAEA director general, Tehran and the UN nuclear watchdog issued a joint statement, declaring that Iran will stop its voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol and will deny IAEA inspectors access to its nuclear facilities beyond the Safeguards Agreement as of February 23, 2021 for three months.

According to the Iranian Parliament’s ‘Strategic Action’ on lifting sanctions and safeguarding national interests, ratified in October 2020, Tehran has halted the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol because the signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal have failed to honor their commitments.”

‘JCPOA Not Renegotiable, Rouhani Tells Macron’, March, 03, 2021, tasnim news

“Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made it clear in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart that the 2015 nuclear deal would be not renegotiated by any means, stressing that the only way to revive the JCPOA is the termination of the US sanctions on Tehran.

In the phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday evening, Rouhani warned that missing the opportunity to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action could make the situation more difficult.

“The stepwise reduction of commitments on the part of Iran was due to the withdrawal of the United States from the deal and the inability of the three European countries to fulfil their obligations,” Rouhani said, stressing that Iran’s measures can be reversed immediately after the other parties’ fulfillment of their obligations.”

You may remember that the Biden administration had wanted to confer with allies Saudi Arabia, Israel, and others who oppose ‘the deal’  ahead of the ‘renegotiation’ language. To make matters more clear, there IS a time schedule.   Iranian hrdliners elected to Parliament recently have passed a law that forces its government to halt nuclear inspections and boost uranium enrichment if U.S. sanctions are not eased by the last week of February.  Presidential elections are scheduled for June 18, 2021.

Will an Iranian hardliner be elected?  Tick-Tock…

Glimmer #1: ‘France, UK, Germany Scrap US-Backed Anti-Iran Plan at IAEA’, March, 04, 2021, tasnimnews.com/en

“The UN nuclear watchdog said its chief Rafael Grossi would hold a news conference at 1100 GMT, according to Reuters.

It did not give a reason, but diplomats said he told the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors that the agency plans to hold technical discussions with Iran in April. […]
“According to the Iranian Parliament’s ‘Strategic Action’ on lifting sanctions and safeguarding national interests, ratified in October 2020, Tehran has halted the voluntary implementation of the Additional Protocol because the signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal have failed to honor their commitments.”

Glimmer #2: ‘Moscow Urges for Full Implementation of JCPOA Commitments by All Parties’, March, 05, 2021, tasmin news english

“Moscow hopes that it will soon be possible to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program in its original form, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Russkaya Mysl magazine published in the UK.

“We hope that it will be possible to reverse the trend and return the process of implementing the JCPOA to the originally agreed on framework in the immediate future. Even more so, since Tehran has repeatedly spoken in favor of its willingness to completely unfreeze all of the plan of action’s provisions that it had suspended as soon as the forfeited balance of interests is restored. For our part, we are ready to provide all kinds of assistance in reaching agreements on that score,” Lavrov stressed when asked whether it was possible to restore the Iran nuclear deal in cooperation with European countries.

“However, not everything here depends on us or the European participants in the plan of action. The Biden administration’s stance is of key significance. In our view, steps by Washington showing Tehran that the United States’ intentions to return to the JCPOA are serious would help break the impasse around Iran and its nuclear program,” the top Russian diplomat stressed.” […]

“However, Tehran has expressed its readiness to reverse the suspension of its commitments only if the US returns to the nuclear deal and lifts all sanctions without any preconditions or if the European co-signatories manage to protect business ties with Iran against Washington’s sanctions as part of their contractual obligations.”

‘FM: US Criminal Sanctions Targeting Iran’s Kids’, farsnews.ir/en, March 5, 2021 (also CC)

“Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif strongly blasted the US for imposing sanctions against his country, stressing that these inhumane sanctions have intensified sufferings of kids with no access to special medicines for incurable diseases.

Zarif made the remarks on Friday with an image of a young sick Iranian girl published on his Twitter account.

“This is a little girl who’s paid the price for cruel & inhumane choices of politicians far away. Her situation isn’t unique in Iran,” he wrote.

“Even amid COVID-19, US continues to exert Trump’s failed “maximum pressure” on Iranians. Isn’t it time to try something that may actually work?”, @JZarif added.”

(cross-posted at caucus99percent.com)