Efforts renewed to salvage Iran deal
Multilateral talks yield commitment by parties
VIENNA — Diplomats from Iran and five world powers recommitted Sunday to salvaging a major nuclear deal amid mounting tensions between the West and Tehran since the U.S. withdrew from the accord and reimposed sanctions.
Representatives of Iran, Germany, France, Britain, China, Russia and the European Union met in Vienna to discuss the 2015 agreement that restricts the Iranian nuclear program.
“The atmosphere was constructive, and the discussions were good,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi told reporters after the meeting ended. “I cannot say that we resolved everything” but all the parties are still “determined to save this deal,” he added.
Iran is pressuring the European parties to the deal to offset the sanctions U.S. President Donald Trump reinstated after pulling out. The country recently surpassed the amount of low-enriched uranium it is allowed to stockpile and started enriching uranium past the 3.67 percent limit permitted, to 4.5 percent, saying the actions could be reversed if the Europeans came up with incentives that compensated for the impact of the sanctions on the Iranian economy.
Experts warn that a higher enrichment level and a growing uranium stockpile narrow the one-year window that Iran would need to have enough material to make an atomic bomb, something Iran denies it wants but that the deal prevented.
So far, Iran’s exceeding of the agreement’s stockpile and uranium enrichment ceilings have been seen as violations likely to prompt the European signatories to invoke a dispute resolution mechanism. Weapons-grade uranium is enriched at a level of 90 percent.
Both of Iran’s actions were verified by the U.N.’S nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In addition to trade with China, Iran is especially keen on the activation of a barter-type system set up by the Europeans that would allow the continent’s businesses to trade with Tehran without violating the U.S. sanctions.
A Royal Navy warship arrived Sunday in the Gulf to accompany British-flagged ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Britain’s Ministry of Defense said the HMS Duncan will join the Frigate HMS Montrose in the Gulf to defend freedom of navigation.