Iran Envoy Says Europe Not Doing Enough to Save Nuclear Accord
Iran’s UN ambassador said Europe isn’t acting with enough urgency to stop his country from breaching terms of 2015 nuclear deal.
(Bloomberg) -- Iran’s UN ambassador said Europe isn’t acting with enough urgency to stop his country from breaching terms of the 2015 nuclear deal.
European Union members said Wednesday that Instex, a payment vehicle intended to circumvent U.S. sanctions, was almost ready, but Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi said that may not suffice.
“Personally, I don’t think it will be enough,” he told reporters in New York on Thursday. “It took them more than a year to put this in place, and it’s still not operational. It’s as if you have a beautiful car, you enjoy looking at it, but there’s no gas inside. So all you can do is look.”
European powers opposed President Donald Trump’s decision last year to quit the multinational accord intended to curb Iran’s nuclear development in exchange for easing sanctions. But they have struggled unsuccessfully to develop ways to maintain economic relations that avoid the U.S. banking system and the sanctions that Trump reimposed.
Frustrated Iranian officials have warned that their country would breach the deal’s cap on stockpiles of low-grade uranium by Thursday. Europe is “extremely concerned about the Iranian announcements regarding its nuclear commitments” and urges Tehran “to refrain from escalatory steps,” the EU members said Wednesday in a statement at the United Nations Security Council.
Iran’s atomic energy agency has said the country would probably exceed the agreement’s cap on Thursday, and could act early next month to raise enrichment purity beyond a 3.67% limit put in place to keep Iran from making weapons-grade material.
Ravanchi wouldn’t say if Iran had breached the deal yet and argued that it was still acting within terms of the accord.
Spurning Trump’s call for negotiations amid rising tensions -- including attacks on tankers near the Persian Gulf and the shooting down of a U.S. drone -- Ravanchi said “Iran is ready to engage with regional countries under a UN umbrella.”
He ruled out direct talks with the Trump administration, saying “they are looking for total submission.”
To contact the reporter on this story: David Wainer in New York at dwainer3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert, Gregory Mott
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