European countries say they want to preserve Iran’s nuclear deal and have rejected “ultimatums” from Tehran after Iran scaled back curbs on its nuclear program and threatened moves that might breach the pact.
Iran announced steps on Wednesday to relax some steps that restrict its stockpiling of nuclear materials in response to new US sanctions imposed after Washington abandoned the world powers’ 2015 accord with Tehran a year ago.
Tehran’s initial moves do not appear to violate the accord yet. But President Hassan Rouhani said that unless the powers protect Iran’s economy from US sanctions within 60 days, Iran would start enriching uranium beyond limits set by the deal.
“We reject any ultimatums and we will assess Iran’s compliance on the basis of Iran’s performance regarding its nuclear-related commitments…,” read a statement issued jointly by the European Union and the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany, co-signatories of the deal.
“We are determined to continue pursuing efforts to enable the continuation of legitimate trade with Iran,” they said on Thursday, adding that this included getting a special purpose vehicle aimed at enabling non-dollar business with Iran off the ground.
In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on his Twitter account that EU countries should uphold their obligations in the nuclear deal with Iran and normalise economic ties despite US sanctions, “instead of demanding that Iran unilaterally abide by a multilateral accord”.
Read the article in the Canberra Times (AAP).