LONDON, January 14. /TASS/. The UK, Germany and France are launching a dispute resolution mechanism within the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear deal, the joint statement by the countries’ foreign ministers published on Tuesday informs.

"We have therefore been left with no choice, given Iran’s actions, but to register today our concerns that Iran is not meeting its commitments under the JCPoA and to refer this matter to the Joint Commission under the Dispute Resolution Mechanism, as set out in paragraph 36 of the JCPoA," the message says.

"We do this in good faith with the overarching objective of preserving the JCPoA and in the sincere hope of finding a way forward to resolve the impasse through constructive diplomatic dialogue, while preserving the agreement and remaining within its framework," the statement notes. "France, Germany and the United Kingdom once again express our commitment to the JCPoA and our determination to work with all participants to preserve it."

According to Article 36 of the JCPOA, if Iran or any other member to the deal (UK, Germany, China, Russia, the US and France) feels like another party is not meeting its commitments under the deal, they can refer the issue to the Joint Commission for resolution, which launches a special mechanism that includes several procedural steps within the stipulated deadline.

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab commented on the launch of the mechanism on Twitter. "It is vital #Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon. Today, the UK, France and Germany have initiated the dispute resolution mechanism in response to Iran breaking its commitments in the JCPOA nuclear deal. We want to bring Iran back into full compliance and preserve the deal," he stated.

The future of the Iranian nuclear deal was called in question after the United States’ unilateral pullout on May 8, 2018 and Washington’s unilateral oil export sanctions against Tehran. Iran argues that all other participants, Europeans in the first place, ignore some of their own obligations in the economic sphere, thus making the deal in its current shape senseless. Due to this, Iran began the process of stage-by-stage suspension of its commitments under the deal. In early January 2020, Iran announced the final stage of reducing obligations under the JCPOA. The new step of Tehran implies that it will not meet restrictions set by JCPOA on the number of centrifuges for uranium enrichment.