Iran: Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA)

The EU reiterates its strong commitment to and continued support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) at this critical point in time. We are determined to continue working with the international community to preserve the JCPOA and ensure its full implementation.

We are deeply concerned by Iran’s decision to suspend the provisional application of the Additional Protocol as well as additional transparency provisions under the JCPOA as of 23 February 2021. Unless reversed, this decision will substantially restrict the IAEA’s ability to verify that nuclear material and activities in Iran remain for exclusively peaceful purposes. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be deprived of an essential part of its knowledge of Iran’s activities on the entirety of Iran’s nuclear fuel cycle, including R&D with advanced centrifuges. IAEA access to information on key facilities will also be limited. In this context, we note the temporary bilateral technical understanding reached between the IAEA and Iran that, according to the IAEA’s Director General Grossi, will mitigate reduced access and allow for necessary monitoring and verification activities to continue for up to three months.

The EU fully supports the IAEA's objective, independent and impartial work in monitoring and verifying of Iran's nuclear-related commitments. We firmly believe that full and timely cooperation by Iran with the IAEA remains crucial to ensure the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme.

We recall the Declaration of the High Representative on behalf of the EU of 11 January on Iran’s nuclear activities, in which we deeply regretted the worrying steps taken by Iran over the last two years. We continue to call on Iran to stop and reverse all actions that are inconsistent with its commitments under the JCPOA.

We acknowledge the issues connected to the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the agreement and the re-imposition of sanctions by it. Despite the severe challenges to the JCPOA, the EU has continued to uphold its commitments and to work hard to preserve the JCPOA.

We welcome the prospect of a US return to the JCPOA and Iran's return to full JCPOA implementation. We strongly support the ongoing intense diplomatic efforts, and the contacts of the EU High Representative as JCPOA Coordinator with all relevant partners.

The Candidate Countries Turkey, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania[1], the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.

[1]The Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.