VIENNA (AP) — Britain, France and Germany said Thursday they will maintain their sanctions against Iran related to the country’s Middle East nuclear program and ballistic missile development. The measures were due to expire in October under a timetable set out in the now-defunct nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
In a joint statement, the three European allies called E3, which helped negotiate the nuclear deal, said they would maintain their sanctions in “direct response to Iran’s consistent and serious non-compliance with the deal,” as the official also explained as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA.
The measures ban Iran from developing ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons and prohibit anyone from buying, selling or transferring drones and missiles to and from Iran. This includes freezing the assets of several Iranian individuals and organizations involved in the nuclear and missile programs.
Iran has violated sanctions by developing and testing ballistic missiles and sending drones to Russia to wage war against Ukraine.
The sanctions will remain in effect until Tehran “fully complies” with the deal, E3 said. According to the agreement eight years ago, the sanctions were supposed to expire on October 18th.
Iran’s foreign ministry called the European decision an “illegal, provocative action” that would hinder cooperation, in comments quoted by the country’s official IRNA news agency.
“The actions of the European parties will definitely have a negative impact on efforts to manage tensions and create an appropriate environment for greater cooperation between the JCPOA parties,” the ministry said.
The 2015 nuclear deal was intended to ensure that Iran could not develop nuclear weapons. Under the deal, Tehran agreed to limit uranium enrichment to levels necessary for nuclear energy in return for the lifting of economic sanctions.
In 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the agreement and said he would negotiate a stronger agreement, but that did not happen. A year later, Iran began breaking the terms and is now enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels, according to a report by the United Nations nuclear regulator.
Formal talks to find a roadmap to restart the deal failed in August 2022.
The E3 informed the European Union’s foreign affairs representative, Josep Borrell, of their decision, the statement said. Borrell, in turn, said he forwarded the E3 letter to other signatories of the 2015 agreement – China, Russia and Iran.
The development comes at a sensitive time as the United States prepares to complete a prisoner swap with Iran that would include the release of $6 billion in Iranian assets in South Korean banks.
The Iranian mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that Washington was in contact with European allies about “the appropriate next steps.”
“We are working closely with our European allies, including of course the members of the E3, to address the ongoing threat posed by Iran, including missile and weapons transfers, using the extensive range of unilateral and multilateral tools at our disposal “To meet.” he said.
Iran has long denied ever seeking nuclear weapons and continues to insist that its program is solely for peaceful purposes, although Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear regulator, has warned that Tehran has enough enriched uranium for It has “multiple” nuclear bombs if it chose to build them.
Under the terms of the nuclear deal, a UN arms embargo on Tehran expires on October 18. After that, countries that do not themselves impose sanctions similar to the E3 – probably Russia and perhaps China – are no longer bound by the UN restrictions against Iran.
However, Iran has recently slowed the pace of uranium enrichment, according to an IAEA report seen by The Associated Press earlier this month. That could be a sign that Tehran is trying to ease tensions after years of tension between it and the United States
“The decision makes sense,” Henry Rome, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said of the European decision. “The real question is how Iran will respond. Given the extensive de-escalation efforts, I would expect Iran not to act rashly, but we never know.”
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Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.