IRAN SAYS IT WILL NOT HONOUR NUCLEAR CURBS

Prelims level : International Mains level : Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International Relations
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Why in News

  • Iran said it had stopped respecting limits on its nuclear activities agreed under a 2015 deal with major powers

Details:

  • The announcement came as Washington stepped up its rhetoric against Tehran, accusing it of planning “imminent” attacks and deploying an aircraft carrier strike group with several nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the region
  • Iran said it was responding to the sweeping unilateral sanctions that Washington has reimposed since it quit the agreement one year ago, which have dealt a severe blow to the Iranian economy. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said that it no longer considered itself bound by the agreed restrictions on stocks of enriched uranium and heavy water.

What did Iran do over the deal and why?

  • It suspended two parts of the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), namely the sale of surplus enriched uranium and heavy water. Under the deal, Iran is required to sell its surplus enriched uranium – which can be used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons – abroad, rather than keep it.

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)

  • The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) known commonly as the Iran deal, is an international agreement on the nuclear program of Iran reached in Vienna on 14 July 2015 between Iran, the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States—plus Germany),and the European Union.

What is Instex?

  • It’s a new payments mechanism set up by the UK, France and Germany to allow businesses to trade with Iran without being subject to sanctions. It is supposed to focus on “legitimate trade” in goods “where the immediate need of the Iranian people is greatest”, for example food, pharmaceutical products and consumer goods not subject to sanctions. Oil, Iran’s main source of foreign exchange, is at the moment not covered and Tehran wants the Europeans to give the system more bite.
  • But that could put traders at loggerheads with the US sanctions.
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