Iran scorns EU over warnings as nuclear deal unravels

Iran has long blamed European states for failing to provide the economic benefits it was meant to receive under the nuclear deal signed in 2015.

DUBAI - Europeans have failed to fulfil their own commitments to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted, in response to a warning by the EU that urged Tehran to stick to the pact or face consequences.

European countries have been trying to persuade Tehran to stick to the deal, under which it agreed to curbs on its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions, despite a decision last year by US President Donald Trump to abandon it.

Iran has long blamed the Europeans for failing to provide the economic benefits it was meant to receive under the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and has begun steps to reduce commitments, including producing more enriched uranium than allowed.

Last week Iran resumed enrichment at its underground Fordow nuclear facility, banned under the deal.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and European parties to the deal - Britain, France and Germany - issued a statement urging Tehran to comply with the accord or face action which could include sanctions.

"To my EU/E3 Colleagues: 1. 'Fully upheld commitments under JCPOA' YOU? Really? Just show ONE that you've upheld in the last 18 months," Zarif tweeted.

Iran says paragraph 36 of the deal allows it to reduce its commitments because other signatories are not complying. The Europeans dispute this.

Some Iranian officials have warned that the reimposition of EU and UN sanctions would be a red line that would cause the deal to collapse.

Zarif's comments come after German foreign minster Heiko Mass suggested that EU states should begin considering moves to reinstate the sanctions as Iran continues to ramp up its nuclear activities.

He said Germany, Britain and France now play a key role as the US has already backed out of the nuclear deal, and signatories Russia and China are Iranian allies. Russia has said that it supports the preservation of the deal and it believes European states must do more to honour their commitments.

Any of the signatories can trigger a dispute resolution process that could culminate at the UN Security Council with a so-called “snapback” of global, UN sanctions on Iran.

'Nobody in the world can blame us'

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran is enriching uranium at the Fordow site and rapidly accelerating enrichment more broadly.

Iran says it will further overstep the deal's limits in January if the three European signatories fail to shield its economy from US penalties that have reduced its oil exports by more than 80% since a year ago.

Washington says it wants to negotiate a more sweeping deal aimed at further curbing Iran's nuclear work, halting its ballistic missile programme and limiting its meddling in other countries in the Middle East, but Iran has rejected any negotiations as long as the United States is not complying with the deal.

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said Iran only began scaling back its nuclear commitments a year after the US withdrawal to give the other parties time to make up for it.

"We waited for a year," Rouhani told a televised news conference.

"Nobody in the world can blame us by saying 'Why are you abandoning your commitments under the JCPOA today and why have you launched Fordow today?'" he said.

"This is a problem that the enemy has created for us," he said, referring to Washington.

Iran's approach, he said, was to take "the path of resistance and perseverance" by reducing commitments under the JCPOA and engaging in negotiations.

"We are negotiating with the world... they are giving us proposals, we're giving them proposals. Up until today, I have not accepted the proposals I've been given."

Rouhani, however, made no mention of the uranium particles the IAEA said its inspectors had detected at an undeclared site in Iran.