Iran has not yet violated restrictions on enriched uranium reserves, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) writes, citing European diplomats familiar with the situation. Thus, the remaining parties to the international agreement to limit Iran's nuclear program still have time to salvage the deal.

In May 2018, the United States announced its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which envisaged the lifting of sanctions on Tehran in exchange for abandoning its nuclear program. Washington has also imposed sanctions barring companies from doing business with Iran or buying oil from it, although it has allowed several countries to continue purchasing. But then the White House in the spring of 2019 tightened the embargo on Iranian oil, intending to bring its exports to zero, and also prohibited the purchase of enriched uranium from Iran, which became a technical obstacle to its fulfillment of its obligations. In response, Tehran refused to fulfill some of its obligations under the JCPOA and stated that it would continue to enrich uranium if it did not reach new agreements with the other parties to the deal - Russia, France, Great Britain, Germany and China.

Iran has threatened that its stockpile of enriched uranium will exceed the permissible 300 kg by Thursday, June 27. However, this will most likely happen only over the weekend, European diplomats told the WSJ. Meanwhile, on Friday, representatives from EU countries, Russia and China will meet with Iranian counterparts in Vienna to try to persuade Tehran to comply with the terms of the JCPOA.

Even if stockpiles of enriched uranium exceed 300 kg, this will not be enough to produce enough fuel for nuclear weapons. Experts say it will be many more months before Iran has the amount of enriched uranium it needs. Therefore, European countries are unlikely to immediately take any action against Iran. But if Tehran continues to violate other agreements, France, Britain and Germany could begin within weeks a formal dispute resolution process that could end the JCPOA, European officials said.

Meanwhile, the EU is accelerating work on launching the INSTEX payment mechanism for trade with Iran, bypassing US sanctions. It was created back in January, but has not yet completed a single transaction. European diplomats say its launch could be formally announced in the coming days, with France, Britain and Germany expected to announce on Friday that they have provided INSTEX with a credit line of at least several million euros for its first deals. It is expected that the mechanism will initially be used to trade humanitarian goods in euros.

The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, in an interview with local television, said that the failure to launch INSTEX indicates the lack of international influence of European countries: “If the Europeans take concrete steps that will allow Iran to benefit from the JCPOA, we will act differently. Otherwise, we will take the necessary steps previously announced.”

Europe hopes to save Iran nuclear deal