The European Union foreign policy chief, Joseph Borrell, says Iran should reap the economic benefits of the 2015 nuclear deal in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear work.
“This deal is not only a nuclear deal,” Borrell told Time magazine in an interview on November 16.
“It is also an economic deal, and Iran is expecting to have some exchange for stopping its nuclear program,” he added.
He also stressed that there was no alternative to the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying the agreement was the only way of guarantying the peaceful nature of Tehran’s nuclear program.
A year after the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018, Iran began a set of nuclear countermeasures in response to the United States’ departure from the landmark agreement between the Islamic Republic and major world powers.
The measures were also taken in retaliation for the US’ restoration of its sanctions against Iran, and failure by the European signatories to the deal Britain, France, and Germany to keep their business interactions with Iran despite the sanctions.
Iran says the measures are reversible if the other signatories to the JCPOA stick to the end of the bargain and guarantee the country’s benefits in the face of US sanctions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said last week that the future of the nuclear deal depends on the course of action and behavior of the new US administration.
"Individuals are certainly important, but what matters are the behaviors and actions, and the Islamic Republic is waiting to see these actions from the new US administration," Zarif said.