Iran Deal's Parties Stress Need for Full Enforcement

Participants in the Friday meeting of an oversight panel of the 2015 nuclear deal agreed on the need to preserve the accord, the EU envoy said in a statement.
"Participants recalled the need for continued implementation of nuclear-related sanctions-lifting to allow for the effective realization of the benefits envisioned under the JCPOA," said Helga Schmid, secretary general of the EU foreign policy service, who led the bloc's delegation in the meeting.
JCPOA stands for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the official name of the nuclear accord between Iran and the six major powers.
The Joint Commission comprises representatives from all the seven deal parties, who are responsible for dealing with any complaint from the parties involved.
The Friday talks were particularly meant to address Iran's grievances about the US uncooperative approach to the deal's implementation.
"The parties welcomed the fact that again [the International Atomic Energy Agency] has confirmed Iran's continued adherence to these commitments," Schmid said, according to a transcript of her remarks carried by the European External Action Service website.
Despite repeated confirmations by the IAEA, the deal's verification body, that Iran has been fully compliant with its JCPOA commitments, the action plan has been under harsh attack from the administration of US President Donald Trump, who has criticized his predecessor Barack Obama for failing to drive a harder bargain when negotiating it.
It swapped time-bound constraints on Tehran's nuclear work for its relief from international sanctions.
Trump's harsh stance has slowed Iran's economic recovery in the wake of the sanctions relief by deterring foreign banks and firms, prompting a protest from the Islamic Republic.
Trump has demanded that the Europeans work with his administration on a supplemental deal to strengthen the nuclear agreement's terms. The Republican hawk has threatened that, otherwise, he would withdraw from the pact by declining to waive US sanctions in May.
His demands, which also include fresh restrictions on Iran's ballistic missile program and regional role, have all been rejected by Tehran.
The European signatories to the deal are in talks with the Trump administration to convince him to stay in the deal.
According to Reuters, they have proposed new EU sanctions on Iran over its missile and regional activities in a bid to persuade Washington to preserve the agreement.