Iran will stop negotiations if Europe wastes time: Araghchi

Iranian deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs says Iran will not continue talks with European sides of its nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), if it feels that European countries are wasting time.

News ID: 70401

Date: 28 May 2018 - 13:03

Tehran (Defapress) - "We will continue negotiations with the Europeans as long as we feel that they are moving in the right path and observing Iran's time frame," Iranian deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs and the senior Iranian nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi told reporters.

He added that Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs would definitely pay heed to the Iranian nation's interests and would stop further talks with Europeans if they waste time and dawdle.

US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was walking away from the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was reached between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, Britain, France, Russia and China - plus Germany.

Trump also said he would reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the highest level" of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

Since the US president pulled Washington out of the historic nuclear deal, European countries have been scrambling to ensure that Iran gets enough economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal.

Elsewhere in his remarks and in response to a question about talks with the remaining members of the nuclear accord, Araghchi said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has not yet made any final decision whether it will remain in the JCPOA or not".

Any decision about Iran possibly staying in the JCPOA would depend on the negotiations within the next few weeks, he added.

The Iranian senior negotiator also pointed to his recent talks with the remaining parties to the JCPOA in Vienna, saying that Iran has called on European countries to meet its demands under the deal after the US exit and also to present their proposals and practical solutions with necessary assurances, Press TV reported.

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