Iran warns nuclear deal in 'ICU'; exit likely in 'coming weeks'
In the "intensive care unit".
That's how Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian deputy foreign minister, has described the state of the Iran nuclear deal, while also warning of a potential withdrawal "in the coming weeks" if Tehran does not secure sufficient financial guarantees from Europe.
Araghchi made the remarks on Friday in Vienna as the remaining signatories of the multinational deal - formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - met in the Austrian capital to discuss the future of the 2015 agreement in the wake of the US' decision last month to unilaterally pull out of it.
"I told the conference today that the JCPOA is in the intensive care unit because it has lost its bal- ance as a result of the US withdrawal from the deal," Araghchi was quoted as saying by Iran's Mehr news agency.
Apart from the Iranian delegation, representatives from China, Russia, France, Britain, Germany and the European Union attended the Vienna meeting.
Among the guarantees that Araghchi demanded was that European companies in Iran be protected from US sanctions. He also asked that European crude oil transactions through Iranian banks must continue to operate "without any problems".
"Iran is running out of its patience and there is a possibility for the country to leave the deal in the coming weeks," the Islamic Republic News Agency also quoted Araghchi as saying.
His comments come amid growing questions whether European countries could protect the deal from US sanctions amid Washington's threats to punish firms that continue dealing with Iran.
The US sanctions are expected to snap back in August and November. Washington also imposed a series of additional sanctions on Iranian entities and individuals, as well as foreign companies in Iran.
Under the 2015 deal signed in Vienna, Iran agreed to scale back the country's uranium enrichment programme.
In exchange, UN- approved sanctions were lifted, and Tehran was allowed to resume trading oil and gas on the international market. A total of $ 100bn in frozen Iranian assets was also released.