Iran Suspends Commitments in JCPOA

Iran is suspending some of its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that involve selling enriched uranium in exchange for natural uranium and making “heavy water reserves” available on the open market, according to a May 8 press release from the Iran Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If the “E3, Russia and China” do not “fulfill their banking and oil commitments to Iran” within 60 days, the country may “not respect the current limits on uranium enrichment and may take measures to modernise the Arak heavy water reactor,” according to a May 8 post on the EU Sanctions blog.

Iran announced the moves because of what it called the U.S.’s “illegal” 2018 withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, which violated United Nations Security Council resolutions, according to the press release (see 1905080065). “This blatant bullying behaviour of the US has, unfortunately, not been appropriately addressed by the Security Council or the remaining members,” the ministry said. The ministry added that “no operational mechanisms have been set up to compensate for US sanctions” and that Iran “has no option other than ‘reducing commitments.’”