Iran flays EU demand for more talks

Call for additional talks on missile will not serve nuclear deal, cleric says

Europe is not helping preserve the agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme by asking for additional negotiations on issues like missiles, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a powerful anti-Western cleric, said yesterday, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.

Jannati is the head of the Assembly of Experts, an influential body that can select and dismiss the supreme leader, the highest authority in Iran.

Last week, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Tehran should be ready to negotiate on its future nuclear plans, its ballistic missile arsenal and its role in wars in Syria and Yemen.

Iran’s foreign ministry rejected the idea. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May and is re-imposing sanctions on Tehran.

Last month, the European Union decided to provide €18 million in aid to Iran to offset the impact of US sanctions.

The other parties to the accord — China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany — are trying to find ways to save the agreement. “Europe has announced that they won’t leave the deal,” Jannati said, according to IRNA.

“In practice, by bringing up a discussion of missiles and other issues they are not following an appropriate path.”

Last month, the European Union decided to provide €18 million ($21 million) in aid to Iran to offset the impact of US sanctions, part of efforts to salvage the deal.

Iranians fear the pullout of Washington from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal and renewed US sanctions could shrink Iran’s exports of oil and other goods.