TEHRAN, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The world anticipates Europeans to take measures to protect the Iranian nuclear deal, also known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), against its collapse, said an Iranian diplomat.

Gholam Hossein Dehghani, Iran's ambassador to Belgium, wrote in an article on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the clinch of JCPOA, saying "it would be a failure of EU values" if the deal collapses.

Dehghani penned the article against the backdrop of perils for the abortion of the JCPOA after the U.S. unilateral exit from the pact and EU's "insufficient" response to Washington's intention to paralyze Iran's economy and to hurt its economic interests guaranteed under the deal sealed five years ago.

The JCPOA was reached in July 2015 to find a long-term comprehensive solution to the Iranian nuclear issue. It was endorsed by the UN Security Council and supported by the EU.

However, U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the multilateral nuclear agreement in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions against Iran.

Iran then began to gradually reduce its commitments under the pact in retaliation for Washington's departure and Europe's "failure to honor their commitments."

Iran has repeatedly criticized Europe's sluggishness in facilitating Iran's banking transactions and its oil exports which have been targeted by U.S. so-called maximum pressure campaign.

"How Europe behaves towards the JCPOA, particularly under the current circumstances, determines the fate of its quest for foreign policy integration in the years to come and will irrevocably define the sort of player it aspires to be on the international scene," Dehghani noted.