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Iran still complies with nuclear deal, says IAEA

Iran still complies with nuclear deal, says IAEA

IAEA chief Yukiya Amano

IAEA chief Yukiya Amano

Vienna : The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday confirmed that Iran is sticking to the 2015 nuclear accord.

In a report of IAEA chief Yukiya Amano to a board meeting in Vienna, the capital of Austria, the agency said that under the monitor of IAEA, Iran is still complying with the Iranian nuclear accord reached in July 2015, Xinhua reported.

“Iran is implementing its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (nuclear deal). It is essential that Iran continues to fully implement those commitments,” said the report.

IAEA plays a key role in monitoring the implementation of the Iranian nuclear deal, under which, Iran agreed to significantly scale back its nuclear plan, giving more transparency of its atomic plan to the international society, in return, the related international sanctions are to be lifted.

However, Washington withdrew from the landmark nuclear deal in May, and imposed second batch of sanctions against Tehran in early November, targeting Iran’s shipping, financial and energy sectors.

Tehran has dismissed US sanctions’ pressures, saying that it will continue its “constructive role” concerning regional policies.

—IANS

US will eventually rejoin nuclear deal: Rouhani

US will eventually rejoin nuclear deal: Rouhani

Hassan Rouhani

Hassan Rouhani

By Muhammet Kursun,

Tehran: The U.S. will sooner or later rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference in New York, where he was attending the UN General Assembly, Rouhani described the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 accord as “a mistake”.

He said it would ease the way for dialogue if the U.S. administration “stops bullying, keeps its promises, abides by the laws and respects human rights”.

Rouhani underlined that he met with 16 world leaders in New York and all of them supported the nuclear agreement.

He said the U.S. has isolated itself by pulling out from the accord but would return to the deal because “nobody benefits from the current situation”.

In May, U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew his country from a landmark nuclear deal signed in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 group of nations — the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany.

He later reinstated U.S. sanctions on Tehran, which had been lifted under the terms of the agreement in exchange for restrictions on Iran’s nuclear energy program.

The sanctions are expected to impact Iranian oil exports, which provide Tehran with the revenue needed to finance its national budget.

—AA

Tehran calls on Trump to ‘return’ to landmark nuke deal

Tehran calls on Trump to ‘return’ to landmark nuke deal

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasimi.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasimi.

By Ali Murat Alhas,

Ankara: An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman on Thursday called on the U.S. to return to a landmark nuclear deal from which it withdrew earlier this year.

Speaking on Iranian state television, ministry spokesman Bahram Qasimi said that returning to the nuclear deal would be “the best option” for the U.S.

“I hope the U.S. views Iran — and the region in general — in a positive light and doesn’t repeat its past mistakes as the situation in the Middle East is very sensitive,” he said.

Noting that U.S. President Donald Trump would be unable to implement all of his planned policies, Qasimi said the U.S. had become “isolated” as a result of its decision to withdraw from the agreement.

EU countries, he said, thanks to their close ties with the U.S., should work to correct Trump’s Iran policy and advise him on Asia and the Middle East policymaking.

Russia and China, he added, should also work on convincing the U.S. president to remain a party to the nuclear deal.

“What Trump must understand… is that returning to the nuclear agreement is his best option,” Qasimi asserted.

“What’s more, the U.S. should abandon its sanctions policy, because such political maneuvering only hurts its reputation,” he said.

In mid-2015, Iran signed a landmark nuclear deal with the P5+1 group of nations (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany).

The agreement placed tight restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief.

In May of this year, however, Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the agreement, which he had earlier described as the “worst deal ever”.

The move drew widespread criticism among the agreement’s other signatories.

Washington then re-imposed sanctions on Iran, which primarily target the country’s banking sector.

The sanctions are intended to hinder Tehran’s acquisition of U.S. currency; its precious metals trade; bank transactions denominated in Iranian currency; activities related to Iran’s sovereign debt; and the country’s automotive sector.

—AA

Trump to reimpose sanctions on Iran

Trump to reimpose sanctions on Iran

Donald TrumpWashington : US President Donald Trump’s administration will reimpose the first batch of Iran sanctions on Monday since Washington withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal.

The more significant tranche of sanctions, including on oil sales, won’t however, come into force until November, reports The Hill news.

Trump announced in May that he was withdrawing the US from the 2015 accord with Iran, Germany, France, the UK, Russia and China.

The deal, which was negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama, lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.

Rather than immediately reimpose sanctions in May, the Trump administration gave companies doing business with Iran two “wind-down” periods.

Monday ends another 90-day period after which Washington can sanction transactions with US dollar banknotes; trade in gold and precious metals; direct or indirect sales of graphite, raw or semi-finished metals and Iran’s automotive sector.

Additionally, licenses for exporting commercial aircraft to Iran, as well as related parts and services, are set to be revoked.

The revocation of export licenses for civil aviation, meanwhile, will hit Boeing and Airbus, which had $40 billion deals to sell aircraft to Iran Air.

The sanctions will go back into place after Trump first threatened and then expressed an openness to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and as the Pentagon is monitoring Iranian military exercises in the Persian Gulf.

—IANS

Iran hails nuclear talks in Europe ‘constructive’

Iran hails nuclear talks in Europe ‘constructive’

Mohammad Javad Zarif

Mohammad Javad Zarif

Tehran : Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said the ministerial meeting of the remaining parties to the international 2015 nuclear deal was “constructive”.

“I believe that there is a political will to continue work and save this agreement but we must see what will happen to this issue in practice,” he was quoted as saying by Press TV on Friday.

On Friday, a ministerial meeting on the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Commission of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was held in Vienna, capital of Austria, Xinhua news agency reported.

The meeting was chaired by EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and attended at the ministerial level by China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and Iran.

Zarif said Iran received an economic package from the European countries two days ago but Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said it is not enough.

On Thursday, Rouhani said the proposal package offered by the EU does not secure Iran’s interests in the 2015 deal.

“Unfortunately, in the proposed package, there is no practical measure and specific strategy for cooperation,” Rouhani said in a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, according to IRNA news agency.

The package encompasses “a number of generalities about EU commitments which have also been issued before,” he said.

“We expected a vivid plan from the three European countries” of Germany, France and Britain, two months after the US pullout of the JCPOA, the Iranian president noted.

Merkel confirmed that the EU package contains some principles and generalities, stressing that the talks should continue over the details.

“We all know that we want to stay in the nuclear deal, and we believe that we should keep talks in a quite atmosphere,” she said.

In another telephone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, Rouhani also underlined the need to meet the demands of the Islamic republic by the parties to JCOPA.

The Iranian President highlighted the problems that Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA has created for the European companies involved in Iranian projects.

“We expect Europe to offer a clear operational programme with a specific timeframe in order to be able to compensate for the US pullout from the Iran nuclear deal,” Rouhani said.

Rouhani has urged the European signatories to the JCPOA to take “practical and tangible measures” to protect Iranian interests after the US pullout.

On Friday, Zarif told reporters in Vienna that Europe must translate its commitment into action before the re-imposition of the US sanctions on Tehran.

—IANS