Austria reiterates support for JCPOA to " rebuild trust" in region

Schallengerg made the remarks on Monday evening in a meeting with the visiting Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi, Mehr News Agency (MNA) reported.

The Austrian foreign minister further called on the JCPOA members to live up to their commitments within the framework of JCPOA.

Araqchi arrived in the Austrian capital earlier on Monday to attend a meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission which is to be held on September 1.

The meeting is to be co-chaired by Araqchi and Secretary-General of the European External Action Service Helga Schmid.

The event will be attended by representatives of France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia.

It will be held at the level of deputy ministers and political directors of the Iranian and 4+1 Group foreign ministers.

Araqchi is also to hold separate talks with a number of the heads of the delegations attending this Joint Commission meeting.

The JCPOA Joint Commission meeting is being held upon a letter sent in July by Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to Schmid regarding the non-adherence of European countries to 2015 nuclear deal.

Receiving the letter, Schmid had said at the time that the next meeting of the Joint Commission of the JCPOA will be held as soon as the conditions for travel are available due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The upcoming meeting is important because the US has illegally called for the reinstatement of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Thursday that Washington will return all UN sanctions against Iran “at midnight Sep. 1,” a claim which was strongly condemned by other signatories of the nuclear deal including the EU, Russia and China and was mocked by Iranian senior officials.

Zarif reacted to US claims on returning unilateral sanctions against Iran by saying in a tweeted message, “Obviously they don't understand law or UN. Maybe they can grasp this: You divorced the JCPOA in 2018. Your name on the marriage certificate is irrelevant.”

Washington withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018 and reinstated its unilateral economic sanctions against Iran in defiance of Resolution 2231.

Now after more than two years, the Trump administration is seeking to trigger the snapback of sanctions at the UN by claiming that it remains a member of the JCPOA.

The United States’ most prominent Western allies have refused to fall into step with the push, which followed Washington’s humiliating defeat in securing an extension of the UN arms embargo against Iran at the UNSC.

Only the Dominican Republic voted ‘yes’ to Washington’s resolution calling for the extension of the embargo beyond October 18.

The president of the Security Council on August 25 dismissed attempts by the US to reinstate all UN sanctions against Iran due to a lack of consensus in the 15-member body.

Source: Iran Daily