Failure of Iran deal could be "existential threat," says Hunt | News from the world

Tensions in the Middle East could pose an existential threat to humanity if the Iran nuclear deal is not maintained, says Jeremy Hunt on Monday in his most severe warning since the escalation of the regional crisis two month.

In anticipation of the EU meeting in Brussels, the British Foreign Secretary will try to highlight the importance of this agreement, which was unilaterally abandoned by the United States a year ago, resulting in a Accelerated reciprocal withdrawal from Iran.

Hunt attempted to defuse the situation by stating that an Iranian oil tanker seized by the British off Gibraltar 10 days ago could be released if Tehran promised that the ship's owners were abandoning their plans to unload their oil into Syria. The EU has banned oil sales to Syria.

Hunt made the offer during a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Saturday. But Zarif said that after, Iran should have the right to sell oil to any country of its choice and claimed that the seizure of the ship by the United Kingdom, Grace 1, was an act of piracy. Various Iranian government sources said the oil tanker was not heading to Syria, but Tehran is desperately seeking revenue from oil sales.

Before the EU meeting, Mr Hunt will say: "The Middle East is already one of the most unstable regions in the world, but if the various parties were armed with nuclear weapons, it would would pose an existential threat to humanity. I will do everything in my power to prevent this from happening.

"I will build on the leadership demonstrated by the United Kingdom, alongside France and Germany, while doing what is necessary to maintain the nuclear deal and to encourage Iran to start again. compliance".

About Grace 1's detention in Gibraltar, he should add: "As I told the Iranians this weekend, the detention of Grace 1 was an enforcement of the EU's sanctions at the same time. Against Syria by the European Union. We had to act, and that had nothing to do with the fact that the oil was Iranian. "

France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the three European signatories to the nuclear deal, issued a new joint statement ahead of today's EU meeting, urging Iran to comply again.

"The risks are such that it is necessary for all stakeholders to pause and consider the possible consequences of their actions," the statement said. "We think the time has come to act responsibly and look for ways to end the escalation of tension and resume dialogue.

"We are concerned about the risk that the nuclear deal will burst under the pressure of sanctions imposed by the United States and as a result of Iran's decision to no longer implement several of the central provisions of the agreement. "

Iran first violated the nuclear deal by exceeding the agreed limits for its low-enriched uranium stock and then exceeding the level at which uranium can be enriched. None of these two steps places Iran close to the safety of a nuclear bomb.

The EU has not yet registered the two Iranian decisions in the dispute settlement mechanism of the overall joint action plan, as stated in the nuclear deal signed in 2015, but the EU must be close to doing it.

Echoing Tehran's stance, Iranian President Hbadan Rouhani said in a televised speech on Sunday: "We always believed in the talks … if they lifted the sanctions, put an end to the economic pressure imposed and returned to the country. agreement".

Zarif has to travel to New York this week for a meeting at the UN, while two weeks ago the United States announced that it would impose sanctions against it, a threat that Washington has not yet implemented. It is understood that an American visa has been granted to him to travel to New York.

Zarif gave no hope of early release for the Iranian double nationalist Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, stating: "The arrest and trial of these people were based on entirely legal procedures, and the British government should respect the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran ".