E.U. foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell announced on Friday that Iran had triggered a dispute mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), between Tehran and world powers.
Borrell said he had received a letter from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif seeking redress under the “dispute resolution mechanism, as set out in paragraph 36 of the agreement,” according to the AP.
The mechanism is a built-in process through which a complaint about a potential violation of the deal can be resolved. The mechanism provides for a one-month period to resolve any disagreement, which can be prolonged if all parties agree.
“I have received today a letter from the Foreign Minister of Iran referring Iran’s concerns regarding implementation issues by France, Germany and the United Kingdom,” Borrell said in a statement.
No further details of the “implementation issues” was provided.
Borrell said that he is “determined to continue working with the participants of the JCPOA and the international community to preserve [the deal],” which Iran signed with the United States, Britain, Germany, France, China and Russia.
On Jan. 15, Britain, France and Germany themselves triggered the JCPOA’s dispute resolution mechanism after Tehran declared that it was no longer bound by the uranium-enrichment limitations spelled out by the accord, but later suspended the action.
Zarif’s letter to Borrell was sent a day after Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization announced that a mysterious fire had broken out at the Natanz nuclear facility in Isfahan.
