Iraq News Now

Iran will gain nothing by departing from the terms of its

nuclear agreement, the French foreign ministry said on Wednesday, responding to

Tehran’s announcement that it will boost the enrichment level of its uranium.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earlier said Iran would

raise its uranium enrichment after July 7 to whatever levels it needs beyond

the 3.67% purity cap set in the 2015 deal.

“Iran will gain nothing by leaving the Vienna accord,”

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes von der Muhll told reporters in a daily

briefing.

“Putting it (the deal) into question will only increase the

already heightened tensions in the region.”

Iran on Monday said that it had amassed more low-enriched

uranium than permitted, its first major breach of the nuclear pact.

“That’s why France with its European partners have asked

strongly that Iran reverse the excess enrichment without delay and refrain from

further measures that undermine its nuclear commitments,” Von der Muhll said.

With punishing US sanctions hitting its economy, Tehran has

said that it will continue its current action until the European powers party

to the deal – France, Britain and Germany – do more to ensure it benefits

financially from the accord, notably in terms of its oil revenue.

The European powers are seeking to pull Washington and

Tehran back from direct confrontation and want to avoid escalating the

diplomatic standoff to the United Nations.

When asked whether a symbolic trade mechanism planned by

Europe would soon begin to offer at least some pharmaceutical and food

transfers, von der Muhll said the European powers were not sparing any effort,

but that it was not solely up to them to ensure Iran reaped the economic

benefits of the deal.

“The INSTEX clearing mechanism was created to facilitate the

financial transactions of legitimate business transactions between Europe and

Iran, based on Iran’s full compliance with its JCPOA (Iran deal) commitments,”

she said.

“This mechanism is now operational and the processing of the

first transactions has been initiated; cooperation with the Iranian mirror

structure must continue to sustain the flow of trade,” she said without

elaborating.

INSTEX is a barter trade mechanism that aims to avoid direct

financial transfers by offsetting balances between importers and exporters on

the European side. Iran is in the process of setting up an equivalent mechanism

for Iranian companies.

The structure of the Iranian “mirror” company has yet to be finalized,

European diplomats have said, although the Europeans have created an advanced

payment system that could enable some small transactions soon.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said INSTEX must include

oil sales or provide substantial credit facilities for it to beneficial.