US exit from iran nuclear deal

Iran Seeks Compromise From Europe on Nuclear Deal

The deal has been on life support since the US reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said there was room for maneuver in reimposing the 2015 agreement that kept Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. But he added it would only happen if Germany, France, and the UK showed the same willingness to reinstate the deal’s economic benefits for Iran.

The landmark agreement has been on life support ever since US President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018 and reimposed economic sanctions on Tehran, leaving Germany, France, and the UK struggling to breathe life into the ailing deal.

Iran has responded to the US canceling the agreement with a series of steps back from its own commitments under the deal, including by increasing uranium enrichment.

However, Zarif offered the European trio, and the other members of the accord, China and Russia, an olive branch when he spoke to reporters at the Munich Security Conference.

“We have said that we are prepared to slow down or reverse these measures commensurate with what Europe does,” he said at the annual meeting in Munich.

Also read: Iran: Echoes of Iraqi WMD Claims as European-3 Line up Behind US Pressure Strategy

“We will decide whether what Europe does is sufficient to slow down or to reverse some steps — we have not even ruled out reversing some of the steps that we have taken,” he added. “We’re not talking about charity. We’re talking about Iranian rights and the rights of the Iranian people to receive the economic benefits.”

US sanctions causing ‘irreparable harm’

The renewed US sanctions have almost entirely isolated Iran from the international financial system, driven away oil buyers and forced the Middle Eastern country into a severe recession.

“We have received irreversible harm or irreparable harm because of US sanctions, but, nevertheless, we will reverse the steps that we have taken provided that Europe takes steps that are meaningful.”

The EU, which is an actor within the framework of the nuclear agreement, has been trying to decrease tensions after Germany, France, and the UK triggered a complaint mechanism under the terms of the deal in order to pressure Tehran into returning to full implementation.

The article was originally published on DW. You can read it here.

Nuclear Deal Talks Set to Drag as Iran Seeks More From World Powers

Ministers from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia will meet their Iranian counterpart in Vienna for the first time since US President Donald Trump left the pact in May, but diplomats see limited scope for salvaging the deal.

Vienna: Talks to save the 2015 nuclear deal on Friday are unlikely to satisfy Iran, said European powers after Tehran warned that it could leave the accord if it was not fully compensated for the re-imposition of US sanctions.

Trump pulled the US out of the multinational deal under which sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for curbs on its nuclear programme, verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Washington has since told countries that they must stop buying oil from the OPEC producer from November 4 onwards or face financial consequences.

Speaking on French radio ahead of arriving in the Austrian capital, France’s foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that world powers would struggle to put together an economic package immediately.

“They (Iran) must stop threatening to break their commitments to the nuclear deal,” said Drian. “We are trying to do it (economic package) before sanctions are imposed at the start of August and then the next set of sanctions in November. For August, it seems a bit short, but we are trying to do it by November,” he said.

On arrival in Vienna, Germany’s foreign minister Heiko Mass said that he didn’t expect a collapse of talks, but suggested that more negotiations would be needed in the future. He stressed that world powers would struggle to compensate Tehran for companies leaving Iran.

The pillars of the EU’s strategy are European investment bank lending, a special measure to shield EU companies from US secondary sanctions, and a commission proposal that EU governments make direct money transfers to Iran‘s central bank to avoid US penalties.

Bank payments

“We’ve made some progress, including on safeguarding some crude (oil) sales, but it’s unlikely to meet Iranian expectations. It’s also not just about what the Europeans can do, but about how the Chinese, Russians, Indians, others can contribute,” said a senior European diplomat.

Iranian officials have said that the key for them is to ensure that oil exports do not halt, and that Tehran still has access to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) international bank payments messaging system or an alternative.

“We are ready for all possible scenarios… the collapse of the deal will increase the tension in the region. To save the deal, other signatories should compensate for US sanctions,” a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday.

During a visit to Europe this week, President Hassan Rouhani warned that Iran could reduce its co-operation with the UN nuclear watchdog, having already threatened Trump of the “consequences” of fresh sanctions against Iranian oil sales.

Iran‘s revolutionary guards have also warned that they may block oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz in response to US calls to ban all Iranian oil exports.

“We expect our partners to give us verifiable solutions rather than just promises,” Iran‘s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters on Friday.

(Reuters)

Iran and World Powers Meet in Vienna to Salvage Nuclear Deal

Iranian officials have said that the key for them is to ensure that oil exports do not halt and that Tehran still has access to the SWIFT international bank payments messaging system.

Vienna: Iran wants world powers to guarantee oil revenue and investment into the country despite US sanctions when ministers meet on Friday to save the 2015 nuclear deal, but European states will fall short of Iran’s demands, said diplomats.

In May, President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the multinational deal under which sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for curbs on its nuclear programme, verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Washington has since told countries they must stop buying the OPEC producer’s oil from November 4 or face financial consequences.

Foreign ministers from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia will meet with their Iranian counterpart in Vienna for the first time since Trump left the pact, but diplomats see limited scope for salvaging the deal.

“The objective is to save the deal. We’ve made some progress, including on safeguarding some crude sales, but it’s unlikely to meet Iranian expectations. It’s also not just about what the Europeans can do, but also about how the Chinese, Russians, Indians, others can contribute,” said a senior European diplomat.

The pillars of the EU’s strategy are European investment bank lending, a special measure to shield EU companies from US secondary sanctions and a commission proposal that EU governments make direct money transfers to Iran‘s central bank to avoid US penalties.

“The Iranians expect us to say what we are going to do to keep the deal alive. We will have to see if it is going to be good enough for them,” said an EU source.

Describing the Friday meeting as important, Iranian officials have said that the key for them is to ensure that oil exports do not halt, and that Tehran still has access to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) international bank payments messaging system.

Rouhani was quoted by state media and on his website after conversations with French President Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel as having told them that he was disappointed with their package, which did not go far enough.

“SWIFT is the key but Iran has to stay in at least until the end of the year to maintain divisions between the EU and US, keep some credibility and try and survive amidst forthcoming sanctions,” said Sanam Vakil, associate fellow at Chatham House, a London-based international think tank.

While talks are expected to focus purely on the nuclear deal, they come amid increasing rhetoric from the Trump administration that Iran poses a serious security threat.

An Austria-based Iranian diplomat was among four people arrested on suspicion of plotting an attack on an Iranian opposition group in France last week.

The issue could be a distraction in the Vienna talks. Iran has said it had nothing to do with the plot and has demanded the official be released without delay.

Any confirmation that Iranian authorities were behind the plot could make it politically difficult for European leaders to continue to back the nuclear deal.

(Reuters)

‘Go to Zero’: US Pushes India, China, Other Allies to Halt Iran Oil Imports

Oil analysts said there are concerns that OPEC producers will not be able to fully supply after Iranian oil is cut from the market.

Washington: The US has told countries to cut all imports of Iranian oil from November and is unlikely to offer any exemptions, a senior State Department official said on June 26 as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on allies to cut off funding to Iran.

US President Donald Trump in May said his administration was withdrawing from the “defective” nuclear deal agreed between Iran and six world powers in July 2015, aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear capabilities in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions, and ordered the reimposition of US sanctions against Tehran that were suspended under the accord.

“Yes, we are asking them to go to zero,” the official said when asked if the US was pushing allies, including China and India, to cut oil imports to zero by November.

“We’re going to isolate streams of Iranian funding and looking to highlight the totality of Iran‘s malign behavior across the region,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters.

The official said a US delegation was headed to the Middle East next week to urge Gulf producers to ensure global oil supplies as Iran is cut out of the market starting on November 4 when US sanctions are reimposed.

Officials have yet to hold talks with China and India, among the largest importers of Iran‘s oil, as well as Turkey and Iraq.

Benchmark US oil futures rose more than $2 on June 26, topping $70 a barrel for the first time since May 25 as the threat that the US would push buyers to limit Iranian oil importsadded to concerns about tightening supplies.

Asked if any waivers were expected to be granted in the process, the official said the position of the administration was that no exemptions would be permitted. He added: “I would be hesitant to say zero waivers ever.”

Senior State Department and Treasury officials are pressing allies in Europe, Asia and the Middle East to adhere to the sanctions, which are aimed at pressuring Iran to negotiate a follow-up agreement to halt its nuclear programs.

Iran has met with Chinese oil buyers to ask them to maintain imports of its oil, although it failed to secure guarantees from China, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in May.

“We will be engaging in the next segment coming up in a week or so with our Middle Eastern partners to ensure the global supply of oil is not adversely affected by these sanctions,” the official said.

China, the world’s top crude oil buyer, imported around 655,000 barrels a day on average fromIran in the first quarter of this year, according to official Chinese customs data, equivalent to more than a quarter of Iran’s total exports.

Oil analysts said there are concerns that OPEC producers will not be able to fully supply the market after Iranian oil is cut from the market.

“There is real concern on whether the ‘OPEC Plus‘ will have enough spare capacity to balance potential drops in oil production from Venezuela and Iran,” said Abhishek Kumar, Senior Energy Analyst at Interfax Energy’s Global Gas Analytics in London.

European powers have vowed to keep the 2015 deal alive without the US by trying to keep Iran‘s oil and investment flowing, but have acknowledged that US sanctions would make it difficult to give Tehran guarantees.

“For the vast majority of countries they are willing to adhere and support our approach to this because they also view” Iran‘s behaviour as a threat, the official added.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on June 26 promised Iranians the government would be able to handle the economic pressure of new US sanctions amid reports of a second day of demonstrations in protest at financial hardship and a weakening rial.

Fars news agency reported that parts of Tehran’s Grand Bazaar were on strike for a second straight day. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the report.

Washington has sought to emphasize that the protests are part of rising economic discontent inIran hoping it will force the government to negotiate a new nuclear deal to avoid sanctions.

“There is a level of frustration that people have with regard to the regime activity and behaviour, the enrichment of the military and clerical elite and the squeezing out of the life of the economy,” the senior State Department official said.

“Iranians are tired of this situation,” the official added.

(Reuters)

Iran Urges Global Powers to Stand up to US’s Bullying Over Nuclear Deal

US imposed strict sanctions on Iran after its exit from the nuclear deal. EU must make up for Iran’s loss in order to keep Iran in the deal.

London: The world should stand up to Washington’s bullying behaviour, Iran‘s foreign minister was quoted as saying on June 3 by state media in a letter to counterparts, as the top diplomat intensifies efforts to save a nuclear deal after a US exit.

US President Donald Trump pulled out last month from the 2015 accord between Iran and world powers that lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs to its nuclear programme.

The remaining signatories of the deal – France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China – still see the international accord as the best chance of stopping Tehran developing a nuclear weapon and are trying to salvage it.

In a letter from Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to his counterparts last week, he asked “the remaining signatories and other trade partners” to “make up for Iran‘s losses” caused by the US exit, if they sought to save the deal.

“The JCPOA (nuclear deal) does not belong to its signatories, so one party can reject it based on domestic policies or political differences with a former ruling administration,” Zarif was quoted as saying in the letter, parts of which were published by the state news agency IRNA on June 3.

The nuclear deal was the result of “meticulous, sensitive and balanced multilateral talks,” Zarif said, and could not be renegotiated as the US has demanded.

He said US’s “illegal withdrawal” from the deal and its “bullying methods to bring other governments in line” with that decision have discredited the rule of law in the international arena.

Iran‘s top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has set out a series of conditions on for European powers if they want Tehran to stay in the nuclear deal, including steps to safeguard trade with Tehran and guarantee Iranian oil sales.

The remaining parties to the nuclear deal have warned the US that its decision to withdraw from the pact jeopardises efforts to limit Iran‘s ability to develop atomic weapons.

Trump abandoned the agreement on May 8, arguing that he wanted a bigger deal that not only limited Iran‘s atomic work but also reined in its support for proxies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon and that curbed its ballistic missile programme.

(Reuters)