France, the United Kingdom and Germany engaged, Tuesday, January 14, a complex diplomatic part to force Iran to return to the respect of its commitments in nuclear matter.
The three European countries, co-signers of the 2015 Vienna Agreement, have activated the dispute settlement procedure provided for in the text in the event of breach of commitments.
"We have no other choice, given the measures taken by Iran," announced the diplomats of the three countries, Jean-Yves Le Drian, Dominic Raab and Heiko Maas, in a joint statement.
On January 5, Tehran announced the "fifth and final phase" of its plan to reduce its commitments, in response to the exit of the United States from the agreement in 2018 and the reinstatement of heavy American sanctions that strangle the economy Iranian.
"In doing so, our three countries are not joining the campaign to exert maximum pressure against Iran," said the three ministers, however, suggesting that they did not want to join the US sanctions policy. .
Tehran responded to this initiative by warning Berlin, London and Paris against the "consequences" of their decision to initiate the dispute settlement process.
"Of course, if Europeans ... seek to abuse [this process], they must also be prepared to accept the consequences, which have already been notified to them," the Iranian foreign ministry said in a statement. communicated. And to warn that the Islamic Republic will provide a "serious and firm" response to any "destructive initiative" taken by one of the signatories to the agreement.
Europeans bank on diplomacy
The triggering of the dispute settlement mechanism, which Paris has been threatening for several weeks, could de facto lead to the reinstatement of UN sanctions.
However, the Europeans do not want to "rush" this scenario but put pressure on Iran to save the 2015 agreement, said one in Paris.
They thus take the opposite of Donald Trump, who called them out of the text and decreed new sanctions, on January 8, after the military escalation triggered by the death of General Qassem Soleimani in an American drone fire.
Paris, Berlin and London hope on the contrary that diplomacy will resume its rights in the crisis with Iran. "What they want to put on the table in return for an Iranian coaster is unclear. This could continue to undermine the JCPOA framework," warned Ellie Geranmayeh, expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR ), in a tweet.
Europeans do not weigh "very heavy" politically and are also divided, notes Alex Vatanka, expert at the Middle East Institute in Washington, who expects a "rapprochement" of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, the British Prime Minister said he was ready to replace the 2015 agreement. "President Trump is an excellent negotiator (...). Let’s work together to replace (the agreement signed in 2015) and replace it with the Trump agreement, "he said on the BBC. Statements contradict the efforts made by British diplomacy, which repeats its attachment to the agreement.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron, who had tried in vain to organize a meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Hassan Rohani in 2019 to save the Iranian nuclear deal, remains ready to play the good offices.
"We consider that this French initiative has not failed. There is no other alternative (..) There is no other leader capable at the moment of speaking to everyone and saying the same to all, "says a French diplomatic source.
With AFP
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