Accessibility links

Breaking News

Iran Tells German Envoy Its Patience Is Over, Fars Reports


FILE - Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is also a senior nuclear negotiator, speaks with media in his press conference in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 15, 2017.
FILE - Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who is also a senior nuclear negotiator, speaks with media in his press conference in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 15, 2017.

Iran told a German envoy seeking to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal that its patience was over and urged the treaty's remaining signatories to fulfill their commitments after the United States pulled out, the Fars news agency reported on Thursday.

Jens Ploetner, a political director in the German Foreign Ministry, met Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. A German diplomatic source told Reuters that talks with other Iranian officials were also planned.

FILE - Jens Ploetner
FILE - Jens Ploetner

The semi-official Fars news agency said Araghchi had relayed Iran's impatience during the talks.

Britain, France and Germany, which signed the 2015 deal along with the United States, China and Russia, are determined to show they can compensate for last year's U.S. withdrawal from
the deal, protect trade and still dissuade Tehran from quitting an accord designed to prevent it developing a nuclear bomb.

But Iran's decision earlier this month to backtrack from some commitments in response to U.S. measures to cripple its economy threatens to unravel the deal, under which Tehran agreed
to curbs on its uranium enrichment program in exchange for the removal of most international sanctions.

"At the center of the political director's visit is the preservation of the Vienna nuclear accord (JCPOA)," the German diplomatic source told Reuters. "After Iran's announcement to partly suspend its commitments under the JCPOA, there is a window of opportunity for diplomacy to persuade Iran to continue to fully comply with the JCPOA."

U.S., Iran tensions

Tensions have soared between Iran and the United States since Washington sent more military forces to the Middle East, including an aircraft carrier, B-52 bombers and Patriot missiles, in a show of force against what U.S. officials say are Iranian threats to its troops and interests in the region.

On Wednesday, U.S. officials said the Defense Department was considering a U.S. military request to send about 5,000 additional troops to the Middle East.

FILE - Sailors check for foreign objects and debris on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, May 19, 2019.
FILE - Sailors check for foreign objects and debris on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, May 19, 2019.

Despite such pressure, Keyvan Khosravi, a spokesman for Iran's Supreme National Security Council, reiterated on Thursday that there would be no negotiations with Washington.

He said officials from several countries had visited Iran recently, "mostly representing the United States," but that Tehran's message to them was firm.

"Without exception, the message of the power and resistance of the Iranian nation was conveyed to them," he said.

'Clash of wills'

Fars earlier quoted a senior commander of the powerful Revolutionary Guards as saying the U.S.-Iranian standoff was a "clash of wills" and any enemy "adventurism" would meet a
crushing response.

The German diplomatic source added: "The situation in the Persian Gulf and the region, and the situation around the Vienna nuclear accord is extremely serious. There is a real risk of escalation. ... In this situation, dialogue is very important."

  • 16x9 Image

    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

XS
SM
MD
LG