Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says his country's plan to scale back on the commitments it pledged under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is a "phased" process that leaves the window to diplomacy open. Yet Araghchi, who was also a senior negotiator in the marathon nuclear talks culminating in the landmark accord in 2015, hit out once more at Europeans for their delays in fulfilling their obligations.
"Unfortunately, the proportion between Iran's commitments with its rights under the deal has been shattered … which is why Tehran finds no reason to continue a unilateral fulfillment of obligations," he told the visiting state secretary of the Slovakian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs in Tehran — a city that has witnessed a recent diplomatic frenzy involving European representatives tasked with last-ditch efforts to salvage the deal.
