Iran seeks assurances on nuclear deal after U.S. pullout

VIENNA — Iran will pull out of a landmark deal to stop the country from developing nuclear weapons unless it receives concrete guarantees that the economic incentives of the pact will be protected by the other parties, following the U.S. decision to unilaterally withdraw and Washington’s threat of sanctions against companies who trade with Iran, a senior Iranian official said Friday. “We are still complying but we have not decided whether to yet to stay in the deal or not,” the official told a small group of reporters on condition of anonymity.

The other countries involved in the JCPOA, the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Joint Commission, met Friday Iran called for an urgent meeting in Vienna. Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia reaffirmed their commitment to the deal, and the Iranian delegation emerged saying they were more confident than before.

“I think we have good reasons to think we will succeed, provided that, once again, all of us have relevant political will,” said Mikhail Ulyanov, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s arms control and nonproliferation department.

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Speaking ahead of the Vienna talks, the Iranian official said that for his country to stay in the deal, the relief granted would have to be guaranteed by the other parties involved and that Tehran needs specifics on how that will happen by the end of May. Tehran will make its final decision in a “few weeks.”

The official said that in theory the deal can survive without the U.S., but acknowledged “in practice I’m not sure.”