On Thursday, after a meeting between the European members (E3) of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the US, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas announced that Tehran is playing with fire by violating its commitments under the nuclear deal. Maas indicated that reconciliation between Washington and Tehran is becoming increasingly difficult as pressure is applied on the talks, as a result of breaches to the JCPOA.
The Paris meeting, as it called, was hosted by Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Foreign Minister of France, and included counterparts from the UK, Germany, and the US. Secretary of State Antony Blinken joined the talks through video conference.
The meeting between the four ministers came after Iran’s deadline for US action, which, unless Washington makes the first step in reviving the JCPOA, will block snap inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Iranian nuclear sites. The decision for inspection by the IAEA came after it announced that Tehran was producing uranium metal which can be used in making the core of a nuclear weapon.
The Chairman of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, declared that it will visit Tehran on Saturday to discuss with Iranian authorities in finding a solution to Iran’s decision to block its snap inspections. The agency previously indicated that it would have serious impacts on the monitoring of activities in the country if Iran decided to block inspections in Iranian nuclear sites.
