Iran will reduce its commitments to the nuclear pact and Europe could impose new sanctions

Iran will announce Wednesday a reduction in its commitments under the international agreement on its nuclear program, signed in 2015, a year after the US decision to leave, according to the agency's official press Irna

The agency did not specify which commitments would "reduce" Tehran, but noted that the decision of the Iranian Islamic regime will be communicated to the ambbadadors of the five countries that make up the agreement (Germany, China, France, the United Kingdom and Russia) from the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abas Araghshi.

In parallel, the Iranian President, Hasan Rohani, will send letters tomorrow to the leaders of these five nations to explain this step, in which He will argue that Iran has restrained itself in the past year but the other parties have not kept their promises. The text of the letters will be part of the confidential documents of the nuclear agreement, but its content will be informed.

A prominent diplomat in Tehran confirmed the AFP that the ambbadadors of the five countries were invited to a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Araghshi on Wednesday, anniversary of the announcement of the departure of the United States from the agreement, May 8, 2018.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohamad Javad Zarif will meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Wednesday.

In particular, Iran demands a return to the banking and trade relations of its oil before the exit of the American nuclear pact by the United States on May 8th. After withdrawing from the deal, Washington again imposed sanctions on Iran in August and November, including in the banking and oil sectors.

Pressure on the oil sector rose last month after Washington decided not to renew exemptions for buying Iranian crude from eight countries. In addition, the US State Department announced Friday the imposition of new sanctions with the aim of tightening restrictions on the Iranian nuclear program.

Any badistance to enlarge the Iranian Bushehr nuclear power plant beyond the existing reactor and any activity to transfer enriched uranium out of Iran in exchange for natural uranium will be punishable. The JCPOA limits the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions, but since the departure of the United States, it is in danger.

Europe has adopted a series of measures to counter US sanctions, including a special payment channel, but for the moment they have failed.

After reading the Iranian decision, a source from the French presidency told him Reuters that the European countries will have to reimpose sanctions if the Islamic Republic rejects certain parts of the nuclear agreement. "We do not want Tehran to announce tomorrow actions violating the nuclear agreement, because in this case, we would be obliged to reimpose sanctions in accordance with the terms of the agreement," the source said. "We do not want it and we hope the Iranians will not make that decision," he added.

France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the European signatories of the agreement that lifted the sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activity, have tried to save the pact as part of the efforts Washington to isolate the Islamic Republic. However, the three countries have repeatedly warned Iran that it must comply with all aspects of the agreement, especially the elements related to nuclear activity. These restrictions prolonged the time that Tehran would need to build a nuclear bomb if it so decided.

The United States believes that Iran had nuclear weapons, which the Islamic regime denies.

"We send messages to Tehran to tell them that we are determined to apply the agreement, that we really want them to stay in this deal even if we have taken into account the complexity of the situation and we have conveyed the same message to our American allies, "says the source.

"Tomorrow, according to Tehran's statement, we are waiting at this stage for a collective reaction from Europe, but as we still do not know exactly what will happen, we are preparing for different eventualities," he said. he added.

With information from AP, AFP, EFE and Reuters