EU reiterates commitment to Iran N-deal
7 candidates cleared
VIENNA, June 9, (KUNA): The European Union has reaffirmed “its resolute commitment” to and continued support for the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, known as the JCPOA.
“The EU is determined to continue working with the international community to preserve this agreement of strategic importance and a key element of the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture,” the EU stated in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement issued following the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s Council of Governors discussions on its verification and monitoring of Iran’s nuclear activities.
The EU called on all countries to support JCPOA implementation in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015).
The EU expressed support to the ongoing intensive diplomatic efforts within the JCPOA Joint Commission.
“We welcome the discussions held in Vienna at various levels in view of a possible return of the US to the JCPOA, and the perspective of Iran’s return to full JCPOA implementation,” added the statement.
The EU stressed that the verified full implementation by Iran of its nuclear-related commitments, should lead to lifting nuclear-related sanctions.
It laid it bare that the EU would like to underline that it has fully upheld its commitments, including sanctions lifting under the JCPOA.
The EU, however, is deeply concerned at Iran’s decision to suspend, as of 23 February 2021, the implementation of transparency measures as envisaged in the JCPOA, including the Additional Protocol.
“This action has significantly reduced the Agency’s access and oversight regarding sites, activities and relevant information.
“Additionally, Iran has not provided updated declarations and the IAEA was not able to conduct any complementary access under the Additional Protocol,” it regretted.
Reverse
The EU urged Iran to reverse all activities inconsistent with the JCPOA and return, without delay, to its full implementation, including of all transparency measures, and support the efforts of the JCPOA participants in addressing all relevant issues within the JCPOA framework.
Seven candidates will compete on June 18 to win the Iranian presidential election, as every candidate started his own campaign promising to improve the difficult economic and living conditions that the country is currently experiencing.
The candidates used different methods for their campaigns like hanging posters and large murals in the streets, using social media and newspapers or promoting themselves on the state TV, which is the most effective means of affecting voters’ decisions, negatively or positively, because of its large number of views at the local level.
Five candidates represent the group of the current government critics of the conservative fundamentalist movement, who are the former presidential candidate, the current head of the judiciary, Ibrahim Raisi, the Secretary of the Expediency Council, Mohsen Rezaei, the former Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili, Ali Reza Zakani and Amir Hossein Qazizadeh Hashemi.
On the other hand, the Central Bank governor, the moderate candidate, and technocrat, Abdelnasser Hemmati, compete for the presidency alongside the only reformist candidate in this election, Mohsen Mehr Alizadeh.
According to the Iranian election law, the Supreme Constitutional Court studies candidacy applications to support or reject every candidate’s eligibility according to the voting mechanism among its 12 members, six of whom are religious scholars and the other half are legal scholars.
The candidates of the fundamentalist conservative movement, in their first appearance through the first television debate, criticized the performance of the current President Hassan Rouhani’s government, especially on the economic level, inflation, the deterioration of the citizens living conditions and the depreciation of the national currency in recent years.