Iran is about to partially resume parts of its nuclear program that were suspended within the frameworks of the 2015 nuclear agreement with the world powers, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Iranian stat TV on Monday May 6 quoted "an official close to the JCPOA Supervisory Board" as having said that although the activities to be resumed are covered under articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA, "Iran is not planning to withdraw from the nuclear deal at the time being."
The two articles are about partial or total suspension of implementation of JCPOA, and informing the United Nations organization of the other parties' lack of commitment to the agreement.
The unnamed "informed source" told the Iranian State TV, "President Hassan Rouhani will announce on live TV the measures Iran is going to take in reaction to the United States' withdrawal from the JCPOA," which took place in May 2018.
The measure announced on Monday may be Iran's official response to the US Pull-out almost a year after President Donald Trump announced his country's withdrawal from JCPOA.
Rouhani's speech might coincide with the anniversary of the United States' unilateral pull-out from the nuclear agreement, May 8.
The JCPOA Supervisory Board, is a body set up in June 2016 to address Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's concerns about possible reneging on the deal by the United States. At the time, Khamenei termed the board "the Islamic Republic's hitting hand" in case America violates the terms of the nuclear agreement.
The board consists of President Hassan Rouhani, Majles Speaker Ali Larijani, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, then Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan, Supreme National Security Council Chief Ali Shamkhani, former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and Khamenei's Foreign Policy Adviser Ali Akbar Velayati. It has been at times criticized by hardliners for inaction in the face of what they called violation of JCPOA by America.
The informed source talking to Iranian TV's newsroom, said that Tehran has informed EU officials of its new decision, adding that during the past year, EU officials did not take any practical step to help Iran and have simply offered promises which have not been met yet.
Iranian experts will meet with the representatives of UK, France, Germany, in Brussels on May 7.
Iran's official news agency IRNA reported that the meeting will discuss several issues including the U.S. sanctions against Iran, the non-renewal of U.S. waivers and non-renewal of exemptions about nuclear cooperation with Iran. Iran also brought up the issue of economic cooperation with Europe based on the European financial mechanism (INSTEX) to help Iran with its international trade and banking in spite of US sanctions. Despite European promises the trade mechanism has not been operationalized yet.
Iran had vowed to make its final decision about JCPOA within a few weeks of the U.S. pull-out, but during the past year it was waiting to see what happens to Europe's promise about a financial mechanism.
Even before that Khamenei has threatened to shred the JCPOA into pieces if the United States does not fulfil its commitments based on the agreement.
