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EU top diplomat holds talks in Iran ‘to de-escalate tensions’
TEHRAN, Feb 3, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell on Monday
held talks in the Iranian capital on a mission aimed at lowering tensions
over the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme.
Borrell’s trip, his first to Iran since taking office, follows a spike in
tensions between arch foes Washington and Tehran after the January 3
assassination in Baghdad of a top Iranian general in a US drone strike.
The two-day visit opened with a meeting with Foreign Minister Mohammad
Javad Zarif, ahead of talks with President Hassan Rouhani and parliament
speaker Ali Larijani.
The 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and a group of world powers has been
crumbling since US President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018, and
Washington has since stepped up sanctions and a campaign of “maximum
pressure” against Iran.
Tehran has gradually stepped back from its own commitments under the deal,
while military tensions with the US brought the two countries to the brink of
full-blown confrontation last month.
Borrell’s mission aims “to de-escalate tensions and seek opportunities for
political solutions to the current crisis,” said the office of the EU’s high
representative for foreign affairs and security policy.
The trip will allow Borrell “to convey the EU’s strong commitment to
preserve” the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,
and to discuss cooperation between the EU and Iran, his office said.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told a press conference
Monday that Tehran hoped Borrell’s visit would help the European Union
“understand” its situation and prompt the bloc to “show goodwill by taking
serious measures”.
– Accusations, denials –
Borrell said on January 24 that he had consulted the countries still in
the deal — which also include Russia and China — and that all are
determined to save the accord.
A joint commission that oversees the deal and comprises representatives of
all the countries involved will meet in February, he said, without giving a
precise date.
Washington accuses Tehran of seeking a nuclear weapon, which Iran has
always denied.
The deal struck in Vienna between Iran and the five permanent members of
the UN Security Council — Britain, China, France, the United States and
Russia — plus Germany, offered Tehran a partial reprieve from crippling
international sanctions.
In exchange, Iran agreed to drastically reduce its nuclear activities and
to submit to a tailor-made inspection regime by the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA).
The US withdrawal from the deal and its reimposition of biting sanctions
deprived Iran of anticipated economic benefits.
The renewed US sanctions have almost entirely isolated Iran from the
international financial system, driven away oil buyers and plunged the
country into a severe recession.
Since May 2019, Iran has progressively scaled back commitments under the
agreement in response to the US sanctions and Europe’s inability to
circumvent them.
Iran is now producing uranium enriched beyond the 3.67 percent set by the
agreement, and no longer adheres to the limit of 300 kilogrammes (660 pounds)
imposed on its enriched uranium stocks.
It has also resumed research and development that was restricted under the
deal.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1930HRS