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EU Council chief urges Iran to comply with nuclear deal

European Council President Charles Michel (Photo by Reuters)

The European Council president says he has spoken to Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and urged Tehran to comply with the landmark nuclear deal it clinched with major world powers in 2015.

In a tweet on Thursday, Charles Michel, who coordinates EU government positions in Brussels, described the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as key to global security.

"Just spoke with @HassanRouhani about recent developments. JCPOA remains crucial for global security. I called Iran not to pose irreversible acts," he tweeted.

Michel’s remarks came after Tehran announced in a statement on Sunday that from now on, the country will observe no operational limitations on its nuclear industry, including with regard to the capacity and level of uranium enrichment, the amount of enriched materials as well as research and development.

“By taking the fifth step in reducing its commitment, the Islamic Republic of Iran eliminates the last key operational restriction it faced under the JCPOA, which is the limitation imposed on the number of centrifuges,” it said.

US President Donald Trump, a stern critic of the historic deal, unilaterally pulled Washington out of the JCPOA in May 2018, and unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against the Islamic Republic in defiance of global criticism in an attempt to strangle the Iranian oil trade.

In response to the US unilateral move, Tehran has so far rowed back on its nuclear commitments four times in compliance with Articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA, but stressed that its retaliatory measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield the mutual trade from the US sanctions.

Iran’s latest nuclear announcement coincided with a major escalation of tensions with Washington after the US assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), in a drone strike in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad early on Friday.

Iran has criticized the three European signatories to the JCPOA -- Britain, France and Germany -- for failing to salvage the pact by shielding Tehran’s economy from US sanctions.


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