Iran suggests European Union ‘choreograph’ return to nuclear deal
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif doubled down on his stance that the United States must relieve sanctions first but suggested the EU could coordinate mutual steps.
Iran’s top diplomat all but invited on Feb. 1 the European Union to “choreograph” a return of both Iran and the United States to the 2015 nuclear agreement.
“Clearly, there can be a mechanism to synchronize it or coordinate what can be done,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told CNN. Zarif was responding to a question by interviewer Christiane Amanpour about an apparent early impasse in which both US and Iranian officials have insisted in recent days that the other side must return to compliance with the deal first.
“The JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) has a mechanism built into the deal. That is the joint commission,” he said, adding that the commission’s coordinator, Josep Borrell, can “choreograph the actions that are needed to be taken by the United States” and Iran.
A spokesperson for Borrell, who is also the EU’s top official on foreign affairs and security policy, did not immediately return Al-Monitor’s request for comment.
