London, Paris and Berlin (E3) will maintain sanctions against Iran beyond the 18 October deadline set out in a 2015 nuclear deal, the UK Foreign Office announced on Thursday, underlining its commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“The UK has today committed to bringing UN sanctions on Iran due to lift in October into UK law,” the ministry explained in a statement.
"The E3 have confirmed today that the UN sanctions will be transferred into domestic sanctions regimes and the EU and UK sanctions will be maintained," it added.
Under the JCPOA, the acronym in English for the 2015 nuclear deal, “a range of UN, EU and UK sanctions were due to be lifted on 18 October,” the Foreign Office explained. These sanctions target, in particular, individuals and entities involved in Iran’s missile, nuclear and other weapons programmes.
"In response to continued Iranian non-compliance with their JCPoA commitments and ongoing nuclear escalation, the E3 have confirmed today that the UN sanctions will be transferred into domestic sanctions regimes and the EU and UK sanctions will be maintained," the Foreign Office said in its statement.
The JCPOA pact was intended to limit Iran’s atomic activities in exchange for a lifting of international sanctions.
“Iran continues to breach its commitments under the JCPoA and advance its nuclear programme beyond all credible civilian justification,” a Foreign Office spokesman was quoted as saying in the statement.
In a joint statement issued by the German Foreign Ministry, the three countries said they remained “committed to finding a diplomatic solution.”
The decision announced on Thursday “does not amount to imposing additional sanctions,” they insisted, adding that they were prepared to reverse their decision if Iran complied fully with its commitments under the JCPOA.
