TEHRAN, Mar 10 (NNN-IRNA) – Irish Foreign Minister, Simon Coveney, called on “engagement with all the key players” in the 2015 nuclear agreement, to build trust, in order to revive the deal, according to an interview published yesterday.
“What is required now is engagement with all of the key players, who are responsible for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in the first place P5+1 structure,” Coveney said, in the interview.
Recognising the damage caused by the U.S. unilateral withdrawal from the deal in 2018, the diplomat said, it is necessary now to provide “reassurance to Iran and to others” so that the JCPOA process can move on in the current political environment.
The Irish minister met Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, in Tehran, on Sunday, as well as, his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif.
“I am here to reassure people that the European Union, the E3 … are very committed to making this agreement work in the future,” he said.
The challenge now, he further stated, is for senior politicians and decision makers in the “key countries involved” to find a way of building sufficient trust for “negotiations to proceed.”
Coveney reckoned that such task will not be easy, but currently there is an opportunity that should not be lost.
Asked about why are European JCPOA partners not asking Washington to take the first step by lifting sanctions on Iran, the diplomat pointed to the “short time” since the new U.S. President Joe Biden took office, and his administration has “given a very clear signal that they are interested in re-engaging positively in the context of the JCPOA.”
“They, along with EU partners, have invited Iran to talk about how that might work,” Coveney noted.
Ireland’s chief diplomat mentioned the removal by the U.S. authorities of “some travel restrictions” on Iranian diplomats, and described Washington’s measures as clear and positive signals.
