European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini urges all JCPOA sides to keep commitments

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says all sides to the landmark nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries must remain committed to their obligations under the deal.

Mogherini made the remarks in a statement issued on Friday on the second anniversary of the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), agreed by Iran and the P5+1 group of countries – the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany on July 14, 2015.

She described the JCPOA as a “historic achievement” for the security of the region and the whole world, a “success for multilateral diplomacy that has proven to work and deliver.”

“This deal belongs to the international community, having been endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, that expects all sides to keep the commitments they took two years ago,” she added.

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany started implementing the JCPOA on January 16, 2016.

Under the agreement, limits were put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all nuclear-related bans against the Islamic Republic.

The UN Security Council later unanimously endorsed a resolution that effectively turned the JCPOA into international law.

Mogherini further said through the Joint Commission of the JCPOA, which she coordinates, she is monitoring “very closely the full implementation of the deal in all its parts.”

The top EU official stressed the importance of the regular meetings of the Joint Commission in order to “ensure transparency, constant dialogue and implementation by all” and noted that the next meeting of the commission is scheduled to be held in the Austrian capital Vienna on July 21.

“In my capacity as coordinator, my task is and will stay to ensure that the deal is fully and effectively implemented by all sides,” Mogherini said.

She emphasized that the 28-nation bloc “is and will stay committed in preserving and implementing” the JCPOA, vowing to build on it to address the “remaining unresolved sources of tension and conflict that are still afflicting the region.”

Mogherini said, “A stable and peaceful environment in a conflict-free and cooperative regional order remains our ultimate objective.”