EU lacks determination to implement nuke deal: Iran

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that the European Union (EU) lack resolve and power to implement their commitments pertaining to the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"Repeated delays with regard to the (implementation) of INSTEX (Europe's Instrument In Support Of Trade Exchanges) shows that Europeans neither have the power nor determination to implement their commitments" under the JCPOA to secure Iran's economic interests, Zarif said on Monday.

The Minister was referring to British Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa Andrew Murrison's demand that the European parties postpone the implementation of the INSTEX mechanism after his recent visit to Tehran.

On January 31, the EU announced the set-up of the new institution INSTEX to secure trade with Iran and skirt US anti-Tehran sanctions after Washington pulled out of the JCPOA in May 2018.

The EU has said it is doing its utmost to help Iran gain benefits from the deal.