Iran gives EU deadline to save nuclear deal
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washington has not only re-imposed sanctions but started to make them even tighter. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo on monday threatened iran with the strongest sanctions in history if it did not change its behavior in the middle east1 reutersnan iran wants european powers to present it with measures by the end of may to compensate it for the u.s. decision to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal a senior official said on friday1 the 2015 agreement between iran and world powers lifted international sanctions on tehran1 in return the middle east country agreed to curb its nuclear programme1 since president donald trump pulled the u.s. out on may 8 european states have been trying to find a way to ensure iran still gets the economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal1 but that has proven difficult with european companies frightened away by u.s. sanctions1 nations that remain in the agreement britain china france germany and russia began meetings on friday for the first time since trump left the pact but diplomats see limited scope for salvaging it1 their officials will try to flesh out with irans deputy foreign minister a strategy to save the deal by keeping oil and investment flowing1 to be honest with you we are not confident a senior iranian official told reporters on friday before the talks1 eu leaders have united behind the accord with brussels working on measures including banning eu-based companies from complying with re-imposed u.s. sanctions and urging governments to make money transfers to irans central bank to avoid fines1 we expect the economic package to be given to us by the end of may the iranian official said. im sorry to say that we havent seen the plan b yet1 the plan b has just started to be figured out1 he said european measures would need to ensure that oil exports did not halt and that iran would still have access to the swift international bank payments messaging system1 the official said tehran would decide within weeks whether to quit the accord1 pompeo was like taking a cold shower said a european diplomat. well try to cling to the deal but were under no illusions1 irans supreme leader set out conditions on wednesday for iran to stay in the deal unless europe guarantees irans oil sales will not be hurt tehran would resume enrichment of nuclear material1 he also rejected any new negotiations over irans missile program which was not covered in the nuclear deal1 the official said time was running out and that if iran was not satisfied by european efforts iran would seek a ministerial meeting before making its decision1 iran has struggled to benefit from the accord so far partly because of remaining unilateral u.s. sanctions that have deterred major western investors from doing business with tehran1 some western companies have already quit the country or said they may have to leave because of the new u.s. sanctions1 trump denounced the accord completed under his predecessor barack obama because it did not cover irans ballistic missile program its role in middle east conflicts or what happens after the deal begins to expire in 20251 french president emmanuel macron wants to complement the nuclear deal with negotiations between all sides over other issues an idea cautiously received by russian president vladimir putin during talks in st. petersburg on thursday1 our position is very clear make the jcpoa iran deal a successful story then come to us and ask for dialogue or discussion or negotiation on other subjects the iranian official said1 european nations share u.s. concerns but they say that torpedoing the nuclear deal makes them far harder not easier to address1 they have said that as long as tehran meets its commitments they would remain in the deal1 the international atomic energy agency which polices the pact said on thursday that iran continued to comply with its terms but could be faster in allowing snap inspections. its chief yukiya amano briefed participants before fridays meeting1