Iran will pull out of a landmark deal to stop the country from developing nuclear weapons unless it receives concrete guarantees that the economic incentives of the pact will be protected by the other parties, following the US decision to unilaterally withdraw and Washington’s threat of sanctions against companies who trade with Iran, a senior Iranian official said on Friday.
“We are still complying, but we have not decided whether to yet to stay in the deal or not,” the official told a small group of reporters on condition of anonymity. “It depends on the remaining JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal] participants, if they can actually compensate for the absence of the United States in the deal.”
The other countries involved in the JCPOA met on Friday for the first time without the US after Iran called for an urgent meeting of the body in Vienna.
Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia reaffirmed their commitment to the deal and the Iranian delegation emerged saying they were more confident than before, but made no mention of timelines.
“I think we have good reasons to think we will succeed, provided that, once again, all of us have relevant political will,” said Mikhail Ulyanov, head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ arms control and non-proliferation department.
The other nations have all previously said they want to stay in the 2015 deal, which limits Iran’s enrichment and stockpiling of material that could be applied to a nuclear weapons program. In exchange, Tehran was granted widespread relief from international trade, oil and banking sanctions.
Speaking ahead of the Vienna talks, the Iranian official said that for his country to stay in the deal, the relief granted would have to be guaranteed by the other parties involved and that Tehran needs specifics on how that is to happen by the end of this month.
Tehran will make its final decision in a “few weeks,” he said.
In theory the deal could survive without the US, the official said, but added: “in practice I’m not sure.”
He acknowledged the timeline is tight, but said that European nations had “wasted” the past few months trying to convince US President Donald Trump not to pull out of the deal.
“We cannot continue the deal … unless the remaining participants will compensate and take countermeasures against US sanctions and continue economic relations with Iran,” the official said.
“We made it very clear today that there are things that will take more time,” a senior EU official said. “It’s clear that we need to move forward quickly and we agreed to intensify ongoing work.”
If it pulls out of the deal, Iran would likely revert to its nuclear doctrine before the agreement or maybe even escalate its activities, the official said.
“We would have all options available,” he said.
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