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DUBAI (Reuters) – British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt on Monday discussed the future of the 2015 nuclear deal, the conflict in Yemen, and other topics in meetings with local officials. Iranian authorities in Tehran, the Iranian media reported.
British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt arrives at Downing Street, London, November 13, 2018. REUTERS / Simon Dawson / Files
Hunt's office also said that during his trip – his first as Foreign Minister in Iran – he would press Iran to defend him on human rights and demand the immediate release of British and Iranian dual nationals detained on humanitarian grounds. The Iranian media did not talk about it.
US President Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear deal in May, and Washington reinstated Iran's sanctions to force Tehran to abandon its ballistic missile programs, cut back on its nuclear activities and limit its support to pro-US proxy militia. Syria in Lebanon and Yemen.
Other signatories of the agreement – the European Union, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China – are trying to save him. Iran has warned that it could end the deal if the EU does not preserve its economic benefits from US pressure.
"Europeans must accelerate their efforts to save the deal … We are ready for all scenarios, including the return to the pre-agreement era," said Council Secretary Iran's national security chief, Ali Shamkhani, on Iranian television, Iranian television reported. .
Hunt said Britain is committed to the nuclear deal and has discussed Europe's efforts to maintain the easing of nuclear-related sanctions, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported.
"The Iran nuclear deal remains an essential element of stability in the Middle East by eliminating the threat of a nuclear Iran. To survive, it needs 100% compliance, "Hunt said in a statement before the visit.
ACCELERATING
Hunt and Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also discussed the need to accelerate efforts to end the conflict in Yemen, where a Saudi-backed coalition fights Houthi rebels lined up with Iran for almost four years.
"It's a part of the world that's really a powder keg and so many things can go wrong here. And Iran is one of the main actors and we are very eager to make progress towards peace in Yemen, it is our number one priority at the moment, "Hunt told the press, according to the BBC.
Before the meetings, Hunt also mentioned
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project officer with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested in April 2016 in Tehran while returning to Britain with her four-year-old daughter after a family visit.
"Here we have the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other internationals, who are in prison and should not be, we want to take them home. So there are a lot of things to discuss, "said Hunt.
Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the Iranian clerical institution, a charge denied by his family and by the Foundation, an independent Thomson Reuters charity independent of Reuters News.
No Iranian response to his case has been reported in the immediate aftermath.
Report by Kylie MacLellan to LONDON; Written by Parisa Hafezi, edited by Angus MacSwan
