The remaining parties to the Iran nuclear agreement should take further steps to compensate the consequences of the United States’ withdrawal, says a senior official.
“If Europeans and other participants of the JCPOA are interested in Iran remaining in the deal, they should compensate for the absence of the US and the reimposition of US sanctions,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in an interview with Euronews on Thursday after attending the Iran-Europe Cooperation Conference in the Belgian capital Brussels.
He was referring to US President Donald Trump’s announcement in early May that he was pulling out of the landmark nuclear deal with Iran and other world powers, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Economic Gain
“What matters to us is the dividends of the deal. We don’t care how Europeans would protect their companies, but we care that their companies work with us. We care that Iran’s crude oil should be sold, and the money should come back. So there should be banking channels. How they create them is up to Europeans.”
Araqchi said the government in Tehran remains skeptical about the prospect of a deal that would be sufficiently in Iran’s interest.
The time given to Europe to come up with a satisfying package is going to be over soon, he noted, adding that the outlook for the survival of the accord is not “bright”.
Bleak Prospects
“I told the conference today that the JCPOA is in the intensive care unit because it has lost its balance as a result of the US withdrawal from the deal,” the official said. “But we are still waiting, and we keep hoping that the package could be good enough for Iran to stay in the deal.”
According to IRNA, Araqchi also told the conference that sanctions and agreement do not go together.
Europe has to try to win the trust of the Iranian people because most of the Iranians do not believe them, he noted, adding, “The Iranians say the US exit from the JCPOA was merely a game of ‘good cop, bad cop’, and Europe played the role of good cop in the game.”
