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Iran's top diplomat on Friday congratulated the country's remaining partners in a historic nuclear deal for their "willingness to resist" US pressure after Washington's withdrawal from the deal in May.
"What I noticed during this meeting, is that all members, even the three allies, have made the political commitment to act and resist the states United States, "said Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, broadcast by the Iranian news agency Fars, after talks in Vienna.
Three European nations along with Russia and China pledged to keep the energy exporter plugged into the global economy despite the US withdrawal and the threat of further sanctions, including on Iran's main crude oil exports.
World powers meet Iran on a nuclear deal (Photo: AFP)
Diplomats declare remaining committed to 2015 agreement and to the establishment of economic relations with Iran, including "the continuation of oil and gas exports from Iran" and other energy products .
However, they appeared to make no concrete breakthrough in the talks to provide Tehran with an economic package to offset US sanctions that are starting to take effect in August.
Ministers from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia met with their Iranian counterpart in Vienna for the first time since US President Donald Trump left the nuclear deal
in May, but diplomats had seen a limited opportunity to save him.
Trump released the United States from the multinational agreement under which sanctions against Iran were lifted in exchange for the restriction of its nuclear program verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Atomic Energy (IAEA). Washington has since told countries that they must stop buying oil from the OPEC producer as of November 4 or suffer financial consequences.
Federica Mogherini, Head of European Diplomacy and Javad Zarif, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs (photo: MCT) “/>
Federica Mogherini, Head of European Diplomacy and Javad Zarif, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs [19659041ForeignMinistersagreedonalistof11commongoalsintheAustriancapitalwheretheagreementwbadignedthreeyearsagotocrackdownontheIraniannuclearprograminexchangeforsanctions19659004]
"This is the first time that they have shown this level of commitment, but we will have to see in the future what they really want to do and what that they can do, "said Mr. Zarif
.
"If they continue to manifest the political will they have shown today, they will act without problem."
After three hours of talks, Federica Mogherini, head of the EU's foreign policy, chaired the talks, read a statement from the six delegations that repeat the previously announced key priorities, ranging from the guarantee Iranian oil revenues to shipping links, banks and all other forms of trade and investment.
"The participants recognized that, in return for Iran's implementation of its nuclear commitments, the lifting of sanctions, including the resulting economic dividends, is an essential part of PAGC, "said Mogherini.
Federica Mogherini “/>
Federica Mogherini, Head of EU Foreign Policy (Photo: MCT)
She noted that companies pursuing activities in Iran "acted in good faith on the basis of the commitments contained in the JCPOA and approved at the highest level by the UN Security Council. "and stated that the signatory states committed to provide" clear and effective support to economic operators negotiating with Iran. "
" Participants agreed to closely monitor progress and to reconvene the joint commission, including at ministerial level, to advance joint efforts, "Mogherini said, adding that all parties were determined to find and implement solutions.
Unlike previous meetings, Mogherini did not ask questions.
Iran's President Hbadan Rouhani had previously called the latest package of incentives " disappointing ", but Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said he would pbad" deeper explanations "to the meeting in Vienna in Tehran.
" We prefer to continue to stay in the nuclear agreement , "he told reporters." But the final decision will be taken in Tehran. "
Yet he called the meeting" a step forward. "
"The concerns we had last night and that were expressed by President Rohani were more information was leaked, and they make us more optimistic than we were yesterday, "he said.
"The EU package is a commitment, but we must wait and see how it will be put into practice before the date of the first sanction" of 6 August.
Speaking earlier today, the French Foreign Minister said that the world powers would struggle to meet this deadline.
"They (Iran) must stop threatening to break their commitments for the nuclear agreement," said Jean-Yves Le Drian.
"We are trying to do it (economic package) before sanctions are imposed at the beginning of August and then the next round of sanctions in November, for the month of August it seems like a short, but we are trying to do it by November, "he said.
Upon his arrival in Vienna, the German Foreign Minister, Heiko Mbad, declared that he was not expecting a collapse of the negotiations, but suggested that more negotiations would be necessary in the future. He pointed out that the world powers would have a hard time fully compensating Tehran for the loss of business of companies that were pulling out.
But Maas said that they would advise companies that want to continue investing and would point out to Iran that leaving the deal "would have far more significant drawbacks."
"We want Iran to be clear today that it still has economic benefits from this deal," Maas told reporters. "Above all, we will try to create the conditions for that."
German Foreign Minister Heiko Mbad (Photo: AFP)
[19659004] Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as for him, said the preservation of the agreement was critical, and that the signatory states would send a "united, determined and strong signal" that they were engaged despite Trump's decision.
"If this treaty can not be respected, then it does not harm the interests of Iran, it also harms peace in the Middle East and the credibility of the international order," Wang said.
The pillars of the strategy of the European Union are: loans from the European Investment Bank, a special measure to protect European companies against US secondary sanctions; penalties.
"We have made some progress, especially on saving crude oil sales, but it is unlikely that it will meet Iran's expectations, not only of what Europeans can do, but also of Chinese, Russians, Indians and others, "said a senior European diplomat.
Iranian officials said the key for them was to ensure that measures to ensure that oil exports do not stop and that Tehran still has access to the international SWIFT messaging system or an alternative.
"We are ready for all possible scenarios … the collapse of the agreement will increase the tension in the region.To save the agreement, other signatories should compensate US sanctions, "a senior Iranian official told Reuters. Friday.
During a visit to Europe this week, President Hbadan Rouhani warned that Iran could reduce its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, having already threatened Trump with " consequences "of new sanctions against Iranian oil sales.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards also warned that they could block oil deliveries
across the Strait of Ormuz in response to US calls to ban all Iranian oil exports.
On the nuclear side of the agreement, the parties agreed to replace the United States in a task force tasked with overhauling the Arak reactor with China.
The agreement states that the new design will aim to minimize plutonium production and prevent the production of military grade plutonium in normal operation. It also specifies the fuel that Arak must use and indicates that its spent fuel for the life of the reactor must be shipped out of Iran.
Associated Press and AFP contributed to this story
