Iran: Lack of agreement with Iran not in interest of European states
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi, in a meeting with the former British foreign minister Jack Straw said that lack of agreement with Iran will not in the interest of Britain, France and Germany.
Salehi said the current situation is the result of the US president’s mental disorder. However, he stressed that Tehran will make appropriate decisions based on the interests of the Islamic Republic.
The Iranian official also pointed to the obstacles created by the UK to prevent Iran from purchasing 900 tons of uranium from Kazakhstan.
The EU has invited Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to Brussels for talks over the landmark nuclear deal on Thursday.
“The EU High Representative Federica Mogherini will convene a meeting with ministers of foreign affairs of E3 countries – France, Jean-yves Le Drian; Germany, Sigmar Gabriel; and the UK, Boris Johnson – and Zarif on Thursday, 11 January, in Brussels,” said a statement by the 28-member bloc released late on Monday.
On Monday, Salehi warned that the Islamic Republic may reconsider its cooperation with the UN nuclear agency in case of a US noncompliance with the landmark multilateral nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries in 2015.
He made the remarks in a phone conversation with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano amid speculations about US President Donald Trump’s likely withdrawal from the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“If the United States does not implement its commitments under the JCPOA, the Islamic Republic of Iran will take decisions that can affect its current cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Salehi told Amano. The US president delivered an anti-iran speech on October 13, in which he refused to certify that Iran was complying with the terms of the JCPOA, reached under his predecessor, Barack Obama, and warned that he might ultimately terminate the agreement.