europa.eu- We met today to confirm the continuing commitment of the European Commission and the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran towards the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and in particular its Annex III which addresses civil nuclear co-operation. We believe that the continuing implementation of the JCPOA, which was unanimously endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2231, is crucial for the development and progress of the region as well as the global peace and security.

The JCPOA represents the fruit of more than a decade of successful multilateral diplomacy which signifies the imperative of peaceful settlement of dispute and is a key element of the global nuclear non-proliferation architecture. The International Atomic Energy Agency has so far confirmed in ten successive reports that Iran has implemented its nuclear related commitments under the JCPOA, and, for its part, the European Union will remain committed to the continued full and effective implementation of the JCPOA, as long as Iran continues to implement its nuclear related commitments.

We also wish to take stock of the progress achieved to date, since the start of cooperation following Implementation Day on 16 January 2016. We rapidly established high level contacts between the European Commission and the AEOI, and issued in April 2016 the Joint Statement on cooperation in the field of Nuclear Energy which sets out the guiding lines of our cooperation in the implementation of Annex III. To further develop cooperation we organised high-level seminars on nuclear cooperation and governance in Brussels in February 2017 and in Isfahan in November 2017. During the latter seminar, we also adopted a Roadmap detailing future cooperation in the field of nuclear R&D. The European Commission has opened up its nuclear research programme for Iranian participation, and exchanges and visits of nuclear scientists have already taken place.

A number of ongoing projects address nuclear safety cooperation including: a project for stress testing of Iran's first nuclear power plant, Bushehr-1; a project to prepare for the establishment of a nuclear safety centre in Iran, and projects to enhance the capabilities of Iran's Nuclear Regulatory Authority.

We have also deepened working level contacts aimed at bringing nuclear safety specialists of the both sides together: Iranian specialists have participated to the bi-annual conference of the European Union's nuclear safety regulators (ENSREG), Iranian specialists have also participated to the peer review of the stress test of a reactor under construction. Iranian specialists also were invited to the launch of the EU's SAMIRA project which addresses nonpower applications of nuclear energy and nuclear technology. Iran and the EU are currently preparing a technical seminar on the issue of third-party nuclear liability and insurance � an important element of any nuclear power programme.

The European Commission is also strongly supporting Iran's endeavours in governing the safe and responsible use of nuclear energy, including accession to the relevant international conventions.

In the spirit of close collaboration we also agreed that a third High Level seminar on nuclear cooperation will take place in Brussels at the end of November 2018.

We welcome the strengthening of ties at all levels and look forward to their further development over the coming months and years.v