Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei set out conditions on Wednesday for European powers if they want Tehran to stay in the nuclear deal after the US exit, including steps by EU banks to safeguard trade with Tehran and guaranteeing Iranian oil sales.
US President Donald Trump pulled out earlier this month from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. European powers see the accord as the best chance of ensuring that Tehran's nuclear program will remain peaceful and have intensified efforts to save it.
“European banks should safeguard trade with the Islamic Republic. We are not looking for a fight with these three countries (France, Germany and Britain) but we don’t trust them either,” the Leader was quoted as saying on his website.
Ayatollah Khamenei said European powers must also pledge that they will not ask for negotiations on Iran’s ballistic missile program and its role and influence in the Middle East, adding that “Europe should fully guarantee Iran’s oil sales. If the Americans harm our oil sales..., Europeans should make up for that and buy Iranian oil.”
The Leader recalled that over the past two years the United States “has repeatedly violated” the nuclear deal and yet the Europeans were silent looking the other way. He called on European governments to “make up for that silence” and “stand up against the US sanctions” and its unending bullying around the world.
He said the US has violated the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that underpins the historic nuclear agreement, and asked Europe to table “a resolution in the United Nations Security Council against the US.”
Elaborating in detail the pattern of US hostility against Iran over four decades and its lawlessness, the Leader clarified to the three European signatories to the JCPOA that if Tehran’s conditions are unmet it would resume its enrichment of uranium, halted under the deal.
