U.S. sees strong
shared interests with EU on Iran concerns
Reuters Staff
WASHINGTON/BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States
on Sunday said it hopes to use strong shared interests that have emerged with
its European Union partners in recent months to move forward on addressing
Iran’s nuclear program, missile development and role in regional conflicts.
FILE PHOTO: A gas flare on an oil production
platform in the Soroush oil fields is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the
Persian Gulf, Iran, July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi//File Photo
A State Department official said the shared
interests could form a “foundation to continue to work together moving
forward.”
Iran said on Sunday that it would join a meeting
with diplomats from Britain, Germany, France, China and Russia in Vienna on
Friday to discuss next steps after the May 8 decision by U.S. President Donald
Trump to exit the 2015 nuclear accord.
It said Washington would not participate in the
meeting of the joint commission set up by the six world powers, Iran and the
European Union to handle any complaints about the deal’s implementation.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is
pictured before a meeting with European Commissioner for Energy and Climate,
Miguel Arias Canete, in Tehran, Iran May 20, 2018. REUTERS/Alissa de Carbonnel
The German newspaper Welt am Sonntag cited an
unnamed senior EU official as saying there were also discussions about a
possible new pact between Iran and world powers that would cover the same
ground as the 2015 deal but with some additions to appease the United States.
These could include provisions to address U.S.
concerns over Iran’s ballistic missile program and Tehran’s support of armed
groups in the Middle East, the source said.
“We have to get away from the name ‘Vienna
nuclear agreement’ and add in a few additional elements. Only that will
convince President Trump to agree and lift sanctions again,” the senior EU
official told the paper.
Such an agreement could in the future include
financial aid for Iran, the report said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
meets with European Commissioner for Energy and Climate, Miguel Arias Canete,
in Tehran, Iran May 20, 2018. REUTERS/Alissa de Carbonnel
The State Department official said Washington
hoped the EU would focus “on the central issue here: Iran’s multiple set
of malign behaviors with regard to its nuclear program, missile development,
terrorism, regional conflicts, and other issues.”
Three EU sources who were part of negotiations to
keep Trump from quitting the nuclear deal said Friday’s meeting would address
only the implementation of the 2015 deal, but not offer Iran financial aid in
exchange for concessions.
In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman
Bahram Qasemi rejected reports of a proposed new agreement as “irrelevant
claims”, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
“A meeting set for the next few days for the
first joint commission without the United States ... will only cover issues of
the nuclear accord between Iran and the other members,” Qasemi said.
Earlier, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi
said on state television that the “joint commission ... will be held at Iran’s
request, and without the United States, to discuss the consequences of
America’s withdrawal, and how the remaining countries can continue their
commitment to the deal.”
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
will outline a “diplomatic roadmap” and call for broad support from European
and other allies to apply pressure on Iran to force it back to the negotiating
table, as well as their support to address “the totality of Iran’s threats”.
Reporting by Andrea Shalal in Berlin and Damon
Darlin in Washington, Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi in Ankara, Editing
by Raissa Kasolowsky, Dale Hudson, William Maclean
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