Zarif: Iran to start 2nd phase of JCPOA moratorium on July 7

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday that The first phase of Iran’s 60-day nuclear deal deadline began on May 8, and the 2nd phase of JCPOA moratorium will start on July 7.

Zarif made the remarks on Friday after meeting his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Isfahan.

“Iran’s next move on the opportunity presented to the Heads of States in Dr. Rouhani’s letter, in a letter addressed to EU Foreign Policy Federica Mogherini has been announced,” the Iranian foreign minister said.

“Foreign ministries are scheduled to plan for strategic relations between the two countries”, he added regarding the meeting of today’s foreign ministers of Iran and Turkey in Isfahan.

 Zarif and Cavusoglu held the first round of their bilateral talks behind closed doors.

The talks were held in the central Iranian city of Isfahan on Friday morning, within the framework of regular political consultations between Tehran and Ankara.

According to the Iranian Foreign Minister Spokesman Abbas Mousavi, following the talks and consultations between the two foreign ministers, a document of political collaborations will be signed by the two sides.

On May 8, a year after the US President Donald Trump dropped JCPOA, President Rouhani announced that Iran partially suspends the implementation of JCPOA and demanded that European signatories of the JCPOA, France, Germany and the UK to show good faith in allowing trade within sixty days.

On May 8, the Iranian president said in letters to five world leaders that Iran will scale back more compliance with a 2015 nuclear agreement in 60 days unless they keep promises with the deal, according to media reports.

President Rouhani said Iran will increase uranium enrichment level and get ready for talks with Europe on Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in which wide-ranging sanctions on the Iranian economy was lifted and Tehran in return agreed to accept limits on its nuclear technology program and allow inspections of its nuclear installations.

Prior to the president’s letters, Zarif said that Tehran has decided to stop implementing some of its commitments pursuant to the nuclear agreement.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Araghchi too,  presented President Rouhani’s letter on ‘reducing Iran’s commitments to the nuclear deal’ to the ambassadors of the remaining parties to the JCPOA.

Ambassadors of the five remaining parties to the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) – France, Germany, UK, Russia and China – were invited to the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday morning to receive President Rouhani’s letter from Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, Abbas Araghchi.

The letter contains the decision of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council to “stop the implementation of some parts of commitments of the Islamic Republic of Iran under the JCPOA”.