Representatives of Iran and the world powers working to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday agreed in Vienna to do everything possible to preserve the agreement, The Associated Press reported.
The representatives met for the first time since the United States announced a bid to restore United Nations sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Helga Schmid, the European Union representative who chaired the meeting, said afterwards on Twitter that the “participants are united in resolve to preserve the Iran Deal and find a way to ensure full implementation of the agreement despite current challenges.”
Iranian representative Abbas Araghchi did not comment after the day of talks, but ahead of the meeting said the US move would “definitely be an important discussion” topic with delegates from France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China.
US President Donald Trump in 2018 withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.
Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 deal in response to Washington’s “maximum pressure” policy.
These steps included Iran restarting uranium enrichment at the underground Fordow facility in violation of the deal, as well as threatening to take further steps to reduce its commitments.
Complicating the matter, the US announced recently it was triggering a 30-day process to restore virtually all UN sanctions on Iran, invoking a “snapback” mechanism that is part of the agreement.
The president of the UN Security Council last week rejected the Trump administration’s demand to restore all UN sanctions on Iran.
Germany, France and Britain were quick to announce following the US initiation of the “snapback” move that they reject the move.
