On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif said “(i)f the Europeans continue their improper behavior or send Iran’s file to the Security Council, we will withdraw from the NPT,” adding:’’
“The Europeans’ remarks lack legal justification…(I)f (they) keep up their actions based on political games, we have various options because their actions lack legal standing.”
Separately he tweeted:
E3 think they’re living in the 19th Century, when they dictated to countries, lied, & got away with it.
-IRAN triggered the DRM
-IRAN is NOT the one emptying the accord of its substance—the E3 is
Forget about compensating for U.S: fulfill your own obligations.
EVEN JUST ONE. pic.twitter.com/mVGLYnnSkz
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 15, 2020
Here's what E3 HAS been busy w/ since the US left JCPOA:
✔️Reality Check 2:
– Issued empty statements
– Violated its own laws by bowing to US extraterritorial sanctions
– Ignored Iran's 3 notifications of DRM activation
– Set up INSTEX w/o single transactionEnough is enough.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 15, 2020
E3 claims it has kept its obligations under JCPOA.
✔️Reality Check:
– Zero imports of Iranian oil
– Embargoing of Iranian banks & SWIFT disconnect
– Non-implementation of Blocking Statute
– Exodus of European firms in Iran
– Failure to even sell "exempted" food/medicine— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 15, 2020
E3 sold out remnants of #JCPOA to avoid new Trump tariffs.
It won’t work…You only whet his appetite. Remember your high school bully?
If you want to sell your integrity, go ahead. But DO NOT assume high moral/legal ground.
YOU DON’T HAVE IT.”
Fact: In May 2018, the Trump regime unlawfully abandoned the landmark JCPOA nuclear deal, unanimously adopted by Security Council members, making it binding international and US constitutional law under its Supremacy Clause (Article VI, Clause 2).
Britain, France, Germany and the EU followed suit, bowing to Washington’s will, breaching their mandated JCPOA obligations, falsely blaming Iran for their own wrongdoing, and more:
They triggered the agreement’s dispute resolution mechanism — threatening reimposition of nuclear related sanctions on Iran through the Security Council, a hostile action if things go this far, killing the JCPOA, handing the Trump regime a pretext for belligerent confrontation with Iran if wishes to use it — unlikely but possible.
Fact: E3 countries unjustifiably lodged a dispute mechanism complaint against Iran, pressured by Trump regime hardliners to take this step without just cause.
Invoking it is step one toward unravelling the JCPOA altogether, risking greater regional war and instability than already.
Time and again, EU countries bow to Washington’s will, even when harming their own self-interest. While rhetorically supporting the JCPOA, their actions largely killed it.
As long as Europe partners with US hostility toward Iran, the deal is heading for the dustbin of history, its obituary alone remaining to be written.
Zarif slammed what he called a “political game” by the E3.
According to Iran’s parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, if these countries pursue “unjust” Security Council action, Tehran’s cooperation with the IAEA will be reviewed.
On Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi warned that his government could take “final and more effective” action if E3 countries remain in default of their legal obligations and pursue unjust Security Council punishment of Tehran in cahoots with the Trump regime, adding:
“If there is one party, who needs to be decisive, it is them, who should take a decision to either be independent or listen to a bully like the US.”
He also slammed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for urging an unacceptable “Trump deal” to replace the JCPOA.
Despite EU betrayal since May 2018, “the door to negotiation…has not been closed yet. The ball is in their court.”
E3 countries have a choice. Fully comply with JCPOA provisions they breached or the deal is dead — risking potentially serious consequences by their hostile to regional peace and stability action.
Note: Russia urged Iran not to abandon the NPT. Calling this step “counterproductive,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said the following:
“Opponents of the JCPOA and those who are now trying to destabilize the situation in the region should not be given additional material to escalate the general situation.”
A Final Comment
Russia’s Foreign Ministry slammed unacceptable remarks by Trump’s envoy for regime change in Iran Brian Hook, regarding its legal NPT right to enrich uranium like all other nations with legitimate nuclear programs with no military components, saying:
“We consider it necessary to respond to…Hook about the existence of some kind of ‘UN standard,’ prohibiting the Islamic Republic of Iran from enriching uranium,” adding:
“(S)uch myth-making has long been part of the US approach toward nuclear non-proliferation.”
“In this case, we have, essentially, (a false) accusation against the UN Security Council of making decisions contradicting the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).”
“The NPT puts no limitations on the non-nuclear countries regarding uranium enrichment or developing other stages of the nuclear fuel cycle.”
“There is only one condition: that all work must be directed toward peaceful ends and be under IAEA supervision.”
Iran is the world’s most intensively monitored country by IAEA inspectors — consistently affirming its compliance with NPT and JCPOA provisions.
Nuclear outlaw Israel permits no inspections of its bomb development and production facilities.
Ongoing for decades, world community silence about its unlawfully dangerous actions is deafening — the hypocritical double standard obvious.
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Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)
His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
