Media Wire

Iran to Boost Uranium Enrichment If EU Remains Passive: Zarif

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says Iran could increase uranium enrichment should the European Union continue to act passively in the wake of the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

“The Europeans and the other signatories must act in order to compensate for the effects of the US sanctions,” Zarif told the German news magazine Der Spiegel on Saturday.

The US withdrew from the 2015 agreement in May and began reimposing sanctions on Iran at the start of August, with further sanctions on the country’s finance and energy sectors to follow on November 4.

Zarif said Tehran might act if “the balance of give and take were destroyed,” adding that “oil and banks” were the litmus test. This, however, did not necessarily mean that Iran would for its part withdraw from the nuclear agreement.

Partial or reduced implementation was another possibility, Zarif asserted.

The foreign minister said European parties to the nuclear deal with Iran must decide if they want to submit to US pressure, adding the Europeans needed to decide whether they are ready to let deeds follow their words.

“The Europeans and the other signatories must act in order to compensate for the effects of the US sanctions,” he said.

The EU has invariably opposed the US withdrawal, calling the deal a pillar of regional and international peace and security.

Tehran has tasked the European signatories – the UK, France, Russia, and Germany – to make their continued commitments to the deal worthwhile by guaranteeing that the country continued to benefit from the economic rewards of the deal.

Zarif also rejected direct talks with US President Donald Trump. He said Iran would only think about talks with the United States if the US returned to the nuclear deal.

IFP Media Wire

Reports and views published in the Media Wire section have been retrieved from other news agencies and websites, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website. The IFP may change the headlines of the reports in a bid to make them compatible with its own style of covering Iran News, and does not make any changes to the content. The source and URL of all reports and news stories are mentioned at the bottom of each article.

Recent Posts

Israeli Parliament passes law to deport families of Palestinians involved in attacks against settlers

The Knesset (Israel’s parliament) passed a new controversial law Thursday that allows the deportation of…

14 hours ago

Trump’s team seeks postponing Ukraine’s NATO membership for at least 2 decades: Report

One idea within US President-elect Donald Trump's team for ending Russia's war involves delaying Ukraine's…

14 hours ago

Ex-Iranian MP: Trump’s election similar to Taliban return to power

A former Iranian Parliament member likened Donald Trump re-election as the US president to the…

17 hours ago

Iranian analyst deplores failure to restore JCPOA following Trump re-election

A veteran Iranian journalist and political analyst says Iran had almost four years since US…

19 hours ago

Biden rushing to deliver billions in remaining aid to Ukraine ahead of Trump’s inauguration

The administration of Joe Biden is planning to rush the delivery of the remaining $6…

19 hours ago

Ayatollah Khamenei: Resistance will definitely emerge victorious

The Leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has paid tribute to the…

20 hours ago