Iran - Q&A - Excerpts from the daily press briefing (03.07.19)

Q : President Rouhani announced this morning that Iran would enrich its uranium to more than 3.67% from July 7 if the remaining parties to the 2015 agreement did not keep their word. What is your response to this threat?

A : Jean-Yves Le Drian expressed his opinion yesterday together with his German and British counterparts and the EU high representative. Please refer to their joint communiqué. Iran has nothing to gain by withdrawing from the agreement reached in Vienna. Calling the agreement into question would only serve to fuel already heightened tensions in the region. That’s why France, together with its European partners, strongly urged Iran to immediately reverse its decision to exceed the stockpile limit and to refrain from any further measures that would undermine its nuclear obligations.

Q : In the communiqué issued by the Élysée yesterday that you are referring us to, there’s no mention of the INSTEX mechanism. Can you confirm that the first INSTEX transactions will be made before the end of July or is this announcement largely symbolic in order to appease Iran?

A : France, together with its European partners, will, for its part, spare no effort to ensure that Iran can continue to reap the economic benefits of the agreement reached in Vienna (JCPOA).

The INSTEX barter mechanism was created to facilitate the financial transactions of legitimate business operations between Europe and Iran, on the basis of Iran’s full compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA.

This mechanism is now operational and the first transactions have started to be processed; cooperation with Iran’s mirror-image mechanism must be maintained in order to sustain trade flows.

Responsibility for preserving the economic benefits of the agreement does not lie with the Europeans alone; the other signatories to the agreement and the entire international community also have a responsibility to do so, in accordance with the implementation of UNSCR 2231.