IRAN MEETS 5 POWERS IN VIENNA, SANS WASHINGTON, TO SALVAGE 2015 DENUCLEARIZATION AGREEMENT

VIENNA— Signatories of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal met in Vienna on Friday in a bid to save the agreement even as the United States threatened “the strongest sanctions in history” if Iran does not stop its meddling in the affairs of other Middle Eastern nations.

For the first time since the deal came into force in 2015, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany gathered—at Iran’s request—without the United States, which pulled out on May 8.

“This is a very important meeting that will show whether the other parties are serious about the deal or not,” an Iranian official told Reuters.

“We will understand whether, as our leader said, the European can give us reliable guarantees or not,” the official added.

Trump’s reason

US President Donald Trump withdrew from the pact—concluded under his predecessor Barack Obama—purportedly because it did not go far enough in restricting Iran’s ballistic missile program and its intervention in regional conflicts, from Yemen to Iraq and Syria.

The US withdrawal meant the resumption of economic sanctions, which Washington claimed was aimed at liberating the Iranian people from an oppressive government.

Burden for ordinary people

But Iranian entrepreneurs, like engineer Leila Daneshvar, who makes mobility equipment for hospitals and the elderly, said the sanctions most seriously affect ordinary Iranians.

Sanctions, she said, prevents foreign companies from buying finished goods from or supply- ing raw materials to Iranian businesses.

Moreover, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday threatened the Islamic Republic with “the strongest sanctions in history” if it did not change its behavior in the Middle East.

Diplomatic marathon

Since the US pull out, the other signatories have since embarked on a diplomatic marathon to try to keep the agreement afloat.

According to a report seen by AFP Thursday, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report shows Iran is still abiding by the 2015 deal in return for relief from economic sanctions.

The IAEA, however, is “encouraging (Iran) to go above and beyond the requirements” of the deal in order to boost confidence, said a senior diplomat in Vienna, where the IAEA is based.

‘Industrial level’

Iran said it is waiting for concrete measures from the EU before it decides whether the deal can be saved, while threatening to restart its uranium en- richment program at an “industrial level.”

Vienna meeting

The five signatories still committed to the agreement have said they want Iran to stay in the deal, with the European countries saying they would not rule out further talks on an expanded text.

But several Iranian officials warned that the Vienna meeting would be devoted to the existing agreement only, implying that there was no question of broadening the discussions.