The nuclear agreement ... European countries accuse Iran of breach and decides to activate the mechanism for resolving the conflict and Tehran is responding

France, Britain and Germany decided to activate the mechanism for resolving disputes related to the nuclear agreement with Iran due to Tehran's failure to honor its obligations under the nuclear agreement concluded, according to a joint statement of the three countries. The US envoy to Iran, Brian Hook, valued the decision, and said that it represented a US-British agreement on this issue, while the Iranian Foreign Ministry described the decision as an emotional step and a strategic mistake, and said it had no legal basis.

In the statement, the three countries said, "We have no choice, given Iranian measures, except to register our fears today that Iran is not fulfilling its obligations under the agreement, and to refer the matter to the joint committee of the dispute settlement mechanism." The three countries also stated that they do not accept the statement that Iran has the right to reduce its obligations under the nuclear agreement, and renewed its commitment to maintain it.

The eventual implementation of this multi-stage mechanism could allow the parties to the agreement to stop abiding by it, which would mean re-imposing sanctions on Tehran and notifying the UN Security Council of this.

The agreement, formally called the "Comprehensive Joint Plan of Action", was reached in 2015 between Iran and the major powers. However, the US unilateral withdrawal from it in 2018 made the agreement in grave danger.

And Iran announced last week that it would not fulfill any obligations under the agreement, after the United States assassinated the commander of the Quds Force, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Qassem Soleimani.

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In the context, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on Iran to fully implement its obligations set out in the nuclear agreement signed between Tehran and the "5 + 1" group of major powers.

A spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General, Stephen Dujarric, presented at a press conference in New York, Guterres' position on the declaration of the leaders of Britain, France and Germany, earlier, to activate the dispute settlement mechanism included in the nuclear agreement with Iran.

"We are aware of what was announced today, and Mr. Guterres has not changed his position on the agreement, and he demands that Tehran fully implement its obligations under this agreement," Dujarric told reporters.

For his part, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Britain does not want a military conflict between the West and Iran. He stressed the need to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Johnson ruled out any new tension in the region because of Iran, calling for calm. He added that an alternative to the nuclear deal should be considered if it was abandoned.

In the same context, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel will not allow Iran to possess nuclear weapons, and called on Western countries to impose a mechanism of "automatic sanctions" on Tehran.

"We know exactly what is happening in the Iranian nuclear program. Iran believes that it can acquire nuclear weapons. I confirm that Israel will not allow Iran to possess nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said in a video statement. "I also call on all foreign countries to impose the automatic sanctions mechanism at the United Nations now" after France, Britain and Germany announced the activation of the dispute settlement mechanism in their nuclear agreement with Iran.

But Moscow condemned the decision of European countries, and warned that it could lead to a "new escalation". "We do not rule out that the irrational actions of the Europeans will lead to a new escalation of the Iranian nuclear deal," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that "the reasons for the difficulty of implementing the agreement are widely known and not linked to Iran," but rather the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the nuclear agreement in 2018, which led to the imposition of new sanctions on Tehran, according to Moscow.

The ministry indicated that Iran's nuclear program "remains under the constant control of the International Atomic Energy Agency", and that the level of supervision is "unprecedented" in terms of its scope. She added that "despite all the challenges, the Iranian nuclear agreement has not lost its meaning."

Iranian response
On the other hand, the Iranian Foreign Ministry considered the decision of the European trio to activate the "dispute settlement mechanism" an emotional step resulting from weakness, warning the Europeans against the misuse of this mechanism during the joint committee of the nuclear agreement that they would face the repercussions of that.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that Britain, Germany and France should bear the consequences of activating the mechanism of resolving the nuclear dispute with Tehran.

In a statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi accused the three European countries of not fulfilling their obligations in the nuclear agreement, adding that Iran would respond seriously and firmly to any unconstructive measure by the three countries.

Mousavi added that Tehran started activating the mechanism, and informed the coordinator of the joint committee accordingly, noting that in light of this, the European action does not represent anything new, and that after the activation of Tehran the mechanism, the European parties did not take a concrete and serious step to implement their pledges, pointing out that this pushed his country To reduce its pledges in phases, according to items 26 and 36.