UK to breach Iran nuclear deal amid refusal to lift sanctions
4 Min Read
The United Kingdom is set to once again breach the Iran nuclear deal by seeking to keep in place sanctions due to expire soon imposed on Tehran's missile program.
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A truck carrying uranium hexafluoride gas leaves the Ahmadi Roshan uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, Iran, to the centrifuges at the Fordo nuclear facility, November 6, 2019. (AEOI via AP)
The United Kingdom, alongside several European countries, is set to announce its plan to maintain the sanctions on Iran's use of missiles, despite the 2015 Iran nuclear deal stipulating that the sanctions be lifted by October 2023, making for a clear violation of the JCPOA by the parties in question.
The decision is quite risky because with the United States off the table since 2018, when President Donald Trump decided to pull out of the accord and sanction Iran, the deal would now have more members unilaterally violating the agreement and thus nullifying it, with only China and Russia maintaining their commitments.
Washington violating the agreement and pulling out from it, as well as the E3 not abiding by their financial commitments vis-a-vis the implementation of the INSTEX financial mechanism, saw Iran reducing its commitments and upping the quantity of enriched uranium and the percentage it is enriched by, thus the UK and other parties violating it may see Iran committing even less, though it is unclear how it will react.
Read more: US could offer sanction relief for Iran for reduced nuclear activity
The US withdrawal has also impacted its European allies, especially the guarantors of the agreement, as the bloc placed hopes that an agreement would give it access to the energy-rich country and also use its territory as transit toward Central Asian markets.
Western media is already fearmongering regarding the situation, anticipating a reaction from Iran at a time when it is "close" to producing uranium that could be used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
Reportedly, according to Western claims, Iran currently has over 87 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium in its stockpiles, which, if enriched, would be enough to produce at least one nuclear bomb. However, Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful.
EU and British diplomats, meanwhile, tried to justify their violation of the deal by saying Iran breached the accord itself by selling drones to Russia, albeit without providing evidence.
Additionally, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, said last week that an agreement on monitoring the Iranian nuclear program has become limited and fragmented.
The sanctions imposed by the European Union were due to expire on October 18 under a UN resolution made at the time of the deal's signing. However, the exact text of the deal merely "called upon" Iran not to do anything to develop ballistic missiles that could carry nuclear weapons, and as such.
It is not known how the agreement will proceed, as Iran and the United States held talks regarding its future, though it is unclear what could happen next.
Senior Middle East advisor to US President Joe Biden, Brett McGurk, traveled to Muscat, Oman, on May 8, ensuring that the trip remained low-profile, in order to examine, with Omani authorities, prospective diplomatic outreach, in the shape of an Omani mediation, to Iran about its nuclear program, according to five US, Israeli, and European sources, as reported by Axios.
McGurk's Muscat trip followed a series of trips that started in Saudi Arabia wherein the Middle East Advisor was accompanied by Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Advisor, Axios reported, which cited four Israeli and US officials as saying that the Riyadh trip was succeeded by a trip to "Israel".
Axios had also reported that a possible proposal for an interim agreement with Iran was discussed between the US and its European and Israeli allies. Such a proposal would include partial sanctions relief in exchange for Iran agreeing to freeze parts of its nuclear program.
Earlier, the administration of US President Joe Biden also dismissed reports of an interim deal, using carefully chosen statements that might suggest Washington's desire to reach a less formal "understanding" that would help circumvent a congressional review process.
