U.S. makes contingency plans in case Iran nuclear talks fail
Arshad Mohammed, Lesley Wroughton
March 21, 2018 / 6:02 PM / Updated 26 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has had
constructive talks about the Iran nuclear deal with Britain, France and Germany
but is making contingency plans should they fail, the lead U.S. negotiator said
on Wednesday.
FILE PHOTO: The flag of the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) flies in front of IAEA's headquarters during a board of
governors meeting in Vienna, Austria June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader
U.S. President Donald Trump gave an ultimatum on
Jan. 12 to the European powers, saying they must agree to “fix the terrible
flaws” of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal or he would refuse to extend the U.S.
sanctions relief on Iran that it calls for.
U.S. sanctions will resume unless Trump
again waives them on May 12.
“We have had constructive talks with the
Europeans towards a supplemental agreement but I can’t predict whether we will
reach an agreement with them or not,” Brian Hook, the State Department policy
planning director, told reporters in a conference call.
“We are engaged in contingency planning because
it would not be responsible not to,” said Hook, the lead U.S. negotiator in the
talks with the Europeans.
“We are kind of dual tracking this.”
Hook held talks with the three European powers in
Berlin on Thursday followed by wider talks on Friday in Vienna with a group
that tracks the implementation of the nuclear deal negotiated under former
President Barack Obama’s administration.
The United States also had a bilateral meeting
with Iran in Vienna to demand the release of U.S. citizens held by Tehran, Hook
said.
A senior Iranian foreign ministry official
confirmed that the United States had raised the issue in the bilateral talks, saying
that the Iranian side had responded that this was a matter for the Iranian
judiciary, which acts independently.
“However, on humanitarian grounds, we said we
will do whatever possible,” added the Iranian official on condition of
anonymity.
He also said the issue was discussed with
the foreign minister of Oman when he visited Tehran earlier this month.
The crux of the 2015 agreement between Iran and
six major powers - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United
States - was that Iran would restrict its nuclear program in return for relief
from sanctions that have crippled its economy.
Trump sees three defects in the deal: its failure
to address Iran’s ballistic missile program; the terms under which
international inspectors can visit suspect Iranian nuclear sites; and “sunset”
clauses under which limits on the Iranian nuclear program start to expire after
10 years.
He wants all three strengthened if the United
States is to stay in the deal.
Iran is technically complying with the agreement,
Hook said.
However, he repeated the Trump administration
view Iran is violating the deal’s preamble, which expressed the expectation
that the agreement’s “full implementation ... will positively contribute to
regional and international peace and security.”
Some analysts reject this stance, arguing the
expression of this expectation did not imply a commitment on Iran’s part.
Iran argues it is not receiving the full benefits
of the sanctions relief, in part because big banks have continued to stay away
for fear of falling foul of remaining U.S. sanctions.
Hook said he had rejected this argument.
“Iran’s opaque economy makes it hard for
investors to know whether they’re supporting commerce or supporting terrorism,”
he said.
“Iran needs to stop sponsoring terrorism
and overhaul its banking and business sectors.”
He also played down Iranian concerns that Trump
has yet to approve licenses for Western aircraft companies to sell to Iran
although the Obama administration did so.
“I said to them you use your commercial airlines
to move terrorists and weapons around the Middle East, including to Syria, and
we will not issue licenses at the expense of our national security,” Hook said.
European planemaker Airbus and its U.S. rival
Boeing have agreed to sell a total of 180 jets to renew the ageing fleet of
state carrier IranAir, but depend on U.S. support for the deal because of the
number of U.S. parts in all their jets.
Reporting By Arshad Mohammed and Lesley
Wroughton; Editing by Susan Thomas and James Dalgleish
#ایران #تهران #قیام_دیماه#اعتصاب #تظاهرات_سراسری #قیام سراسری #اتحاد #آزادی#ما براندازیم
#نوروز مبارک #آ#ايران
مطالب مارا درتو ئیتر بنام @ bahareazady ودر وبلاک خط سرخ مقاومت دنبال کنید
هیچ نظری موجود نیست:
ارسال یک نظر