Iran Bans Newspaper Over Article on Assad Trip

Iran on Tuesday banned reformist newspaper Ghanoon for publishing an article about a meeting between Iran's supreme leader and visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

"Ghanoon daily has received notification and its publication has been halted due to its (front page) headline on Tuesday," ISNA said.

The order stating that Ghanoon would be "temporarily banned" was delivered to the paper's management by Tehran's culture and media court, it added, without saying how long the ban would remain in place.

Assad met Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani on Monday during a surprise visit to the Islamic republic, his first since the start of the Syrian conflict.

The news agency did not elaborate on the article about their meeting, but the online version of the story was headlined "Uninvited Guest".

Ghanoon also published a front-page photo of Assad and the supreme leader embracing each other.

The reformist publication has been banned twice before in recent years.

One occasion was over a caricature deemed "offensive to governmental organizations", and the other was due to a report on an Iranian prison headlined "24 Damned Hours," according to Tasnim news agency.

Iran has been a key ally supporting Assad as he has battled to maintain his grip over Syria during nearly eight years of conflict in which more than 360,000 people have been killed.

Assad's visit to Tehran also coincided with Iran Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's shock resignation announcement via an Instagram post.

According to ISNA, Zarif was not present at any of the meetings.

The minister did not give a reason for his resignation, but Entekhab news agency said it tried to reach Zarif and received the following message: "After the photos of today's meetings, Javad Zarif no longer has any credibility in the world as the foreign minister!"

Photo Credit: IRNA

Zarif Suggests He Was Undermined as Iran MPs Demand He Stays On

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who led his country’s nuclear negotiations with world powers, signaled that his surprise decision to resign was because he was undermined in his role.

In his first public comments after Monday’s announcement, Zarif said he hoped the move would eventually allow the ministry “to return to its rightful place in foreign policy.” President Hassan Rouhani hasn’t yet accepted Zarif’s resignation.

About 150 Iranian lawmakers, or a third of the chamber, signed a letter addressed to the president petitioning to keep Zarif in his role, state-run media reported.

Zarif’s resignation and public comments highlight the struggle of moderate Iranian politicians to engage with the West in the face of hardline opposition at home and aggressive U.S. policies. President Donald Trump last year pulled the U.S. out of the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement that was supposed to herald an end to Iran’s international isolation.

The resignation coincided with a visit from Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad to Tehran, where he met with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as Rouhani. Pictures posted online suggested Zarif wasn’t present at the meetings.

The timing led analysts to speculate that Iran’s top diplomat was being sidelined on key foreign policy issues, such as the country’s role in propping up Assad’s government after nearly eight years of civil war in Syria.

Divisions have also been apparent on other matters such as the future of the nuclear program abandoned by the U.S. Rouhani’s government has said the country needs to abide by the accord despite U.S. sanctions. Hardline groups within the ruling establishment suggest Iran should free itself from the limitations imposed by the deal.

Deal Champion

A U.S.-educated career diplomat, Zarif led Iran’s negotiating team during lengthy talks with the U.S. and other world powers that culminated in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or “Iran deal," which lifted some sanctions against the Islamic Republic in exchange for commitments on its nuclear enrichment program. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the accord and reimposed sanctions, leaving Iran to try and salvage what it could of the agreement.

Brokering the deal made Zarif popular with reformists and moderates in Iran’s fractious political system, but he was also the subject of criticism from the Islamic Republic’s hard-liners, who are traditionally suspicious of any engagement with Washington and Europe. The U.S. withdrawal has emboldened the hard-liners and weakened Rouhani, who has been trying to come up with ways to retain some of the benefits of the agreement in negotiations with other signatories.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iran Takes Aim at 'Hateful' Pence Comments

Iran's foreign minister on Sunday launched a blistering attack on US Vice President Mike Pence, saying his allegations that Tehran was plotting a "new Holocaust" were "hateful" and "ignorant.”

Mohammad Javad Zarif told the Munich Security Conference that Pence's demands for the EU to follow the US in abandoning the 2015 Iran nuclear deal amounted to asking Europe to undermine its own security.

And Zarif piled fresh pressure on the EU, telling Brussels that a trade mechanism to bypass US sanctions on Iran was inadequate and it needed to do more if it wanted to save the accord.

US President Donald Trump tore up the nuclear deal last year, branding it a failure, and Washington has slapped strict sanctions back on Tehran.

Pence used a diplomatic tour of Europe this week to demand repeatedly that EU countries stop trying to preserve the deal, which curbed Tehran's nuclear ambitions in return for sanctions relief.

Zarif slammed the vice president, saying he had "arrogantly demanded that Europe must join the US in undermining its own security and breaking its obligations" to the treaty under international law.

"His hateful accusations against Iran including his ignorant allegations of anti-semitism (...) are both ridiculous but at the same time very very dangerous," Zarif said.

Away from the fiery rhetoric, Zarif's criticism of INSTEX—the payment mechanism created by European countries to try to continue trade with Iran—will cause concern in Brussels.

The creation of INSTEX by Britain, France and Germany—the so-called E3 European signatories to the nuclear deal—was a complex, drawn-out process that has infuriated the Trump administration, exacerbating transatlantic tensions.

But while Zarif welcomed the EU's political support, he said it was not enough, and demanded Europe "walk the walk". 

"INSTEX falls short of the commitments by the E3 to save the nuclear deal," he said. 

"Europe needs to be willing to get wet if it wants to swim against the dangerous tide of US unilateralism."

He warned that the future of the nuclear deal was "on the brink", saying that while polls showed 51 percent of Iranians still supported staying in, there were many who thought Tehran had got a bad deal.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons

Iran, India Move Closer on Trade as EU Stalls

Iran will boost trade with India as the European Union struggles to find a way to circumvent a fresh US embargo on Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Tuesday.

Brussels is working on a payment mechanism to keep financial transactions flowing with Iran, after the US ditched the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran earlier this year and reintroduced a raft of sanctions on the country.

But Zarif told reporters in New Delhi that the EU's delay in implementing the system meant Iran would look elsewhere.

"Europeans have made efforts but couldn't... progress up to our expectations. We will expand our cooperation via various channels such as India," Zarif said after meeting India's transport minister, as quoted by Iran's semi-official news agency ISNA.

The EU hopes its "special purpose vehicle" (SPV) announced in September will keep the nuclear deal alive and persuade Tehran to stay on board by giving companies a way of trading with Iran without violating Washington's sanctions.

But Brussels is struggling to find a host for the SPV and many EU companies are fearful of repercussions from US President Donald Trump's administration.

India, which imports around 80 percent of its oil needs, recently signed a deal with Iran to buy crude in rupees rather than US dollars, helping it get around the sanctions.

Zarif added that Iran was "very happy" that the Indian government was allowing the Iranian Bank Pasargad to open a branch in India's financial capital of Mumbai.

India also recently took over the running of part of Iran's Chabahar Port, in the Gulf of Oman, as the countries build closer ties.

“We hope, despite US sanctions, Iran and India will have more cooperation in line with the interests of the people and the two countries," said Zarif.

Photo Credit: IRNA

British Foreign Minister Visits Iran for Nuclear Talks

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was to visit Iran for the first time on Monday for talks about the nuclear deal and freeing UK nationals held in Iranian jails.

Iran has been abiding by the terms of its nuclear deal with global powers, the latest report from the UN atomic watchdog indicated last week, days after fresh US sanctions hit the country.

US President Donald Trump has dramatically increased pressure on Tehran, withdrawing from an international agreement aimed at ending its nuclear program and introducing several rounds of unilateral sanctions.

Hunt's visit is the first by a Western foreign minister since the United States withdrew from the nuclear deal.

"The Iran nuclear deal remains a vital component of stability in the Middle East by eliminating the threat of a nuclearized Iran," Hunt said, in a statement issued in London.

"It needs 100-percent compliance though to survive. We will stick to our side of the bargain as long as Iran does.

"But we also need to see an end to destabilizing activity by Iran in the rest of the region if we are going to tackle the root causes of the challenges the region faces."

Hunt was to meet Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for talks on European efforts to maintain relief from nuclear-related sanctions.

Hunt was also due to discuss Iran's role in the conflicts in Syria and Yemen, and the ongoing cases of detained British-Iranian dual nationals.

One notable case is that of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is serving a five-year jail sentence for alleged sedition.

"More than anything, we must see those innocent British-Iranian dual nationals imprisoned in Iran returned to their families in Britain," he said. 

"I have just heard too many heartbreaking stories from families who have been forced to endure a terrible separation.

"So I arrive in Iran with a clear message for the country's leaders: putting innocent people in prison cannot and must not be used as a tool of diplomatic leverage."

On Yemen, Hunt was to stress concerns at reports that Iran has supplied ballistic missiles and weapons to the Huthi rebels, his ministry said.

Photo Credit: IRNA

US Still Ready to Talk to Iran: Official

US leaders remain ready to negotiate with their Iranian counterparts but Tehran is still refusing President Donald Trump's overture to do so, a senior US official said Wednesday.

Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "have all made clear that we are ready to negotiate and to have those discussions," Brian Hook, the US special representative for Iran, told the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank.

"There hasn't been any aversion to meeting with the Iranians," he added.

Hook stressed the goal was a "comprehensive deal" with Iran, based on a tough set of conditions Pompeo laid out in May.

The United States seeks a treaty ratified by Congress to replace the 
nuclear pact Trump withdrew from in May.

Washington insists such a deal should address Iran's ballistic weapons capabilities, its nuclear capacity and its "destabilizing" and "malign" regional influence.

According to Hook, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif "have all indicated that they're not interested in talking. That's their position, we respect that."

Trump and Rouhani will both be in New York next week for the United Nations General Assembly.

The US president is to lead a Security Council meeting that will discuss Iran, among other topics.

While Rouhani will hold talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, no US-Iranian meeting has been announced.

The US re-imposed sweeping sanctions against Iran last month, and a new round of even harsher sanctions is set to go into effect November 5 targeting Iran's vital oil sector.

Photo Credit: CSPAN

Trump Lashes Ex-Secretary of State Kerry for Iran Meetings

President Donald Trump lashed out at former secretary of state John Kerry for his meetings with Iran's foreign minister after the Obama-appointee had left office.

"John Kerry had illegal meetings with the very hostile Iranian Regime which can only serve to undercut our great work to the detriment of the American people," Trump said on Twitter late Thursday.

"He told them to wait out the Trump Administration!" he said, ending his Tweet with the word "BAD!"

Kerry, who negotiated the 2015 Iran nuclear deal which Trump scrapped this year, said during a tour to promote his new book "Every Day is Extra" that he had met Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif "three or four times" since he left office and Trump had entered the White House.

Without commenting on the legality of such meetings, the current US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, accused his predecessor of "actively undermining US policy."

"What secretary Kerry has done is unseemly and unprecedented," said Pompeo, who is seen as an anti-Iran hawk.

"This is a former secretary of state engaged with the world's largest State sponsor of terror and according to him... he was telling them to wait out this administration."

A spokesman for Kerry said there was nothing improper about his conduct.

"Secretary Kerry stays in touch with his former counterparts around the world just like every previous Secretary of State," the spokesman said in a statement.

"And in a long phone conversation with Secretary Pompeo earlier this year he went into great detail about what he had learned about the Iranian's view."

"No secrets were kept from this administration," the statement said, accusing Kerry's successor of "political theatrics."

Straight Talk

Asked by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday if he had offered Zarif advice on how to deal with Trump's decision to withdraw from the pact, he replied: "No, that's not my job.

"What I have done is tried to elicit from him what Iran might be willing to do in order to change the dynamic in the Middle East for the better.

"I've been very blunt to Foreign Minister Zarif, and told him look, you guys need to recognize that the world does not appreciate what's happening with missiles, what's happening with Hezbollah, what's happening with Yemen," he added, echoing the current administration's denunciation of Tehran's "malign" influence.

Conservative commentators immediately leapt on the act as evidence of "treason," with some calling for Kerry to go to prison.

Asked by a Republican lawmaker during a congressional hearing about the so-called shadow diplomacy, Manisha Singh, an assistant secretary of state, said Thursday: "It's unfortunate if people from a past administration would try to compromise the progress we're trying to make in this administration."

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert added: "I've seen him brag about the meetings that he has had with the Iranian government and Iranian government officials. I've also seen reports that he is apparently providing, according to reports, advice to the Iranian government. 

"The best advice that he should be giving the Iranian government is stop supporting terror groups around the world." 

Photo Credit: Wikicommons

Europe Must 'Pay Price' to Save Nuclear Deal: Iran FM

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Sunday that Europe had not yet shown it was willing to "pay the price" of defying Washington in order to save the nuclear deal.

Zarif said European governments had put forward proposals to maintain oil and banking ties with Iran after the second phase of US sanctions return in November.

But he told Iran's Young Journalist Club website that these measures were more "a statement of their position than practical measures".

"Although they have moved forward, we believe that Europe is not yet ready to pay the price (of truly defying the US)," Zarif said. 

US President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal in May, and began reimposing sanctions earlier this month that block other countries from trading with Iran. 

A second phase of sanctions targeting Iran's crucial oil industry and banking relations will return on November 5. 

Europe has vowed to keep providing Iran with the economic benefits it received from the nuclear deal, but many of its bigger companies have already pulled out of the country for fear of US penalties. 

"Iran can respond to Europe's political will when it is accompanied by practical measures," said Zarif. 

"Europeans say the JCPOA (nuclear deal) is a security achievement for them. Naturally each country must invest and pay the price for its security. We must see them paying this price in the coming months."

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iran Gives Most Explicit Rejection Yet of US Talks

Iran gave its most explicit rejection yet of talks with the United States on Saturday, and accused Washington of an "addiction to sanctions" over its latest spat with Turkey. 

The US reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran on Tuesday following its May withdrawal from a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement, dealing a heavy blow to the already troubled economy.

US President Donald Trump has offered talks on a "more comprehensive deal" but Iran has baulked at negotiating under the pressure of sanctions and has instead leant on its increasingly close ties with fellow US sanctions targets Turkey and Russia.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was asked by the conservative Tasnim
news agency whether there was any plan to meet with US Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo.  

"No, there will be no meeting," was the blunt response from Zarif. 

He said there were also no plans for a meeting with US officials on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York next month, which both Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Trump are due to attend. 

"On Trump's recent proposal (of talks), our official stance was announced by the president and by us. Americans are not honest and their addiction to sanctions does not allow any negotiation to take place," Zarif told Tasnim. 

It was Iran's most explicit rejection of talks to date, after much speculation that economic pressure would force its leaders back to the table with Washington or at least to engage in backroom discussions in New York.

Stop 'Bullying' Turkey

Earlier on Saturday, Zarif waded into the mounting row between Turkey and the United States. 

"Trump's jubilation in inflicting economic hardship on its NATO ally Turkey is shameful," he wrote on Twitter. 

"The US has to rehabilitate its addiction to sanctions (and) bullying or entire world will unite—beyond verbal condemnations—to force it to," he warned.  

"We've stood with neighbors before, and will again now."

Trump said Friday he was doubling steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey as part of an ongoing row over the detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson and other issues.

The tensions have fueled a run on the Turkish lira, which dropped 16 percent to a record low on Friday, with Trump tweeting that the currency was sliding "rapidly downward against our very strong Dollar!"

Rial Pain

Iran too has suffered a major decline in its currency this year—in part due to US abandonment of the nuclear deal—with the rial losing more than half its value against the dollar since April.

Ironically, the rial strengthened in the two days leading up to the reimposition of US sanctions on Tuesday, after the government announced new foreign exchange measures giving greater freedom to trade dollars at market rates. 

But there has since been a fresh decline of almost 13 percent, with the rial at 106,200 per dollar on Saturday, according to currency tracking website Bonbast—approaching the record low of 119,000 that it reached on July 31.

Analysts say this is due to uncertainty in the market, with currency traders still unsure of the new rules and struggling to access dollars from the central bank.

Zarif met repeatedly with then US secretary of state John Kerry during the negotiation and implementation of the 2015 agreement—but those relatively warm ties were abruptly ended when the Trump administration came to power.

Rouhani said last week that Iran "always welcomed negotiations" but that Washington would first have to demonstrate it can be trusted.

"If you're an enemy and you stab the other person with a knife and then you say you want negotiations, then the first thing you have to do is remove the knife," he said in an interview on state television.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Trump, Iran Drama Escalates—via Twitter

Tensions are mounting between Donald Trump and Iran—the US president's raw tweet threatening Tehran was met Monday with a similarly bilious reply, upping the ante in the high-stakes game of diplomatic chicken.

Trump's tweeted warning late Sunday to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani—all in capital letters, the digital equivalent of shouting—sparked questions about Washington's strategy towards the Islamic republic.

The US is regularly suspected of backing the idea of regime change, but analysts say its current stance may simply be an attempt to pivot after a week of dire headlines over Trump's much-maligned summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin and a relative lack of progress on North Korea.

The saber-rattling began when Iranian President Hassan Rouhani cautioned Trump not to "play with the lion's tail," saying that conflict with Iran would trigger the "mother of all wars"—prompting the furious salvo from the US leader.

The Republican leader's response was reminiscent of the belligerent tone he took with North Korea last year.

"NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER  CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE," Trump warned Rouhani on Twitter.

"WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!"

A few hours later, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif fired back. "COLOR US UNIMPRESSED," Zarif wrote in English, mimicking Trump's caps-lock message.

"We've been around for millennia & seen fall of empires, incl our own, which lasted more than the life of some countries. BE CAUTIOUS!"

While Trump's "tough stand" was hailed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it also provoked an avalanche of questions about its exact meaning and impact.

When asked about the president's motivations, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said he was focused on "the safety and security of the American people" and ensuring Tehran did not acquire nuclear weapons.

But she seemed to downplay concerns about his aggressive posturing, saying Trump has been "pretty strong since day one in his language toward Iran."

Concerns? 'None at all'

In May, Trump—who has made Iran his public enemy number one—announced the US withdrawal from what he called a "defective" multinational nuclear deal with Tehran, and moved to reinstate punishing sanctions.

For some analysts in Washington, Trump's harsh words were a political smoke screen.

"Frustrated by no progress w/NK; angered by negative push back post Helsinki, Trump is looking to vent, act tough, and change channel," said Aaron David Miller, a former US diplomat and Middle East negotiator for several administrations.

"If nothing else, Trump's ALL CAPS tirade reflect(s) reality that US has no Iran policy. Empty/ridiculous US rhetoric in response to same from Iran."

After speaking with European officials about Trump's warnings, International Crisis Group president Rob Malley said diplomats on the continent were not "really taking it seriously."

In Europe, Trump's tirade is seen as a way to distract from controversy over his summit with Putin and special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and a Russian effort to sway the 2016 election.

But the president stood by his remarks. Asked by reporters at the White House whether he had concerns about provoking tensions with Iran, Trump said "None at all."

Saber-Rattling

While US ties with Iran and North Korea are different on several fronts, the words used by Trump to denigrate Tehran are similar in tone to those he directed last August at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Several observers noted the similarities between the threats on Iran, and Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign towards Pyongyang.

In September 2017, in his first speech to the United National General Assembly, Trump threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea.

Nearly a year on, Trump has met Kim—who he once called "Rocket Man" on a "suicide mission"—for a landmark summit, and follow-up talks are underway between the two sides.

However, concrete progress has been scant so far on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Democrats have expressed alarm about Trump's Iran bluster.

"Reckless Iran rhetoric creates risks—especially if words are unbacked by actionable strategy," Senator Richard Blumenthal said.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons

Iran Lodges Complaint Against US Over Renewed Sanctions

Iran has lodged a complaint with the International Court of Justice against the United States' reimposition of sanctions, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. 

The complaint was registered the previous day, spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said on the ministry's website.

The goal is "to hold US accountable for its unlawful re-imposition of unilateral sanctions," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter. 

"Iran is committed to the rule of law in the face of US contempt for diplomacy and legal obligations. It's imperative to counter its habit of violating (international) law," he added.

The complaint came in response to Washington's decision in May to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran. 

Tehran says the action violates international obligations, including the 1955 US-Iran Treaty of Amity—an agreement signed well before Iran's 1979 revolution, but which is still invoked in ongoing legal battles. 

Iran and the US have not had diplomatic relations since 1980 when American embassy officials were held hostage in Iran. 

Zarif addressed world diplomats and Iranian businessmen at a lavish Tehran hotel on Monday night, in a meeting designed as a show of continued mutual support in the face of US aggression. 

"This administration in the United States doesn't know how to behave towards the world... it breaks international treaties as a tool. It is necessary to put a stop to this behavior," Zarif said. 

Austrian ambassador Stefan Scholz, whose country currently holds the presidency of the European Union, said "unorthodox and innovative measures" were being considered to allow banking transactions to continue after US sanctions return.

"We are all in this together, since the EU is facing a net loss of EUR 10 billion (USD 11.7 billion) in lost trade with Iran next year," Scholz said. 

The ICJ is already due to hear a complaint on October 8 that Iran lodged two years ago against the United States for freezing around USD 2 billion of its assets held abroad. 

Photo Credit: ICJ

Iran, World Powers to Meet on Nuclear Deal in Vienna on Friday

The foreign ministers of Iran and five world powers still party to the 2015 nuclear deal will meet in Vienna on Friday for talks on the troubled accord, state media in Tehran said.

The top diplomats of Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia will join Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the Austrian capital, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported, for their first talks together on the deal since Washington pulled out earlier this year.

During the meeting the ministers will discuss an "incentive package" the European Union is offering to try to persuade Iran to stay in the agreement, IRNA reported.

The meeting will seek "solutions to preserve the Iran nuclear deal after the illegal US action to withdraw," it said.

The announcement came with President Hassan Rouhani in Europe to rally support for the deal.

Rouhani, accompanied by Zarif, was in Switzerland on Tuesday and due to head on Wednesday to Vienna, where the accord was signed in 2015.

US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the agreement two months ago, to the ire of the other signatories which along with the European Union have continued to back the accord.

Iran has warned it is ready to resume uranium enrichment to 20 percent—above the level permitted in the deal—"within days" if the agreement falls apart.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Nuclear Deal Collapse Would Be 'Very Dangerous': Iran Minister

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned Sunday that failure to save the nuclear deal after the exit of the United States would be "very dangerous" for Tehran. 

The United States announced in May that it was withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposing sanctions that would hit international businesses working in the Islamic republic.

The other parties to the deal—Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia—have vowed to stay in the accord but appear powerless to stop their companies pulling out of Iran for fear of US penalties. 

"Failure of the JCPOA (nuclear deal) would be very dangerous for us," Zarif told members of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

IRNA did not say if he amplified on the dangers posed to Iran. "This is certainly not the (Iranian political) system's choice," added Zarif, one of the architect's of the nuclear pact.

Iran has been holding talks with European Union leaders and other officials seeking ways to keep the deal alive, as well as economic guarantees.

Some European firms doing business in Iran have begun to pack up and leave since the US exit, while the rial has lost more than 47 percent of its value against the dollar since September.

Following the US decision to pull out of the deal in May, Zarif embarked on a tour of Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia.

And President Hassan Rouhani is expected to visit Switzerland and Austria in July as part of Iran's efforts to secure continued European support for the deal, Bern and Vienna have said.

Iran has warned it is ready to resume uranium enrichment to 20 percent "within days" if the deal falls apart.  

That is still within civilian-use limits, and Iran has always insisted its nuclear programme is not for military purposes, but the level is far above the 3.67 percent enrichment permitted under the 2015 agreement.  

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned Iran "will never tolerate both suffering from sanctions and nuclear restrictions" and called for preparations to speed up uranium enrichment.

Photo Credit: Hadi Zand, ISNA

India to Ignore US Sanctions on Iran, Venezuela: Minister

India will keep trading with Iran and Venezuela despite the threat of fallout from US sanctions against the two countries, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said Monday.

Swaraj, asked at a news conference whether US action against Iran and Venezuela would damage India, said the country would not make foreign policy "under pressure". 

US President Donald Trump this month withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and ordered the reimposition of sanctions suspended under the 2015 accord. 

Washington has also tightened sanctions against Venezuela over the controversial re-election of President Nicolas Maduro.

Both countries are key oil suppliers to India and the United States has warned that foreign companies which deal with Iran could themselves be punished.

But Swaraj said New Delhi did not believe in "reactionary" policies and would not be dictated to by other countries.

"We don't make our foreign policy under pressure from other countries," she told a news conference.

"We believe in UN sanctions but not in country-specific sanctions."

Swaraj's comments came just before a meeting with her Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in New Delhi.

Bilateral trade between India and Iran amounted to USD 12.9 billion in 2016-17. India imported USD 10.5 billion worth of goods, mainly crude oil, and exported commodities worth USD 2.4 billion.

India has other interests in Iran, in particular a commitment to build the port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman.

The port is being touted as a way for India to establish trade routes that bypass rival Pakistan. Media reports have speculated India could revive a rupee-rial payment arrangement with Iran to shield exporters from the heat of US sanctions.

Swaraj also said India would continue trading with Venezuela, but there was no plan to use its local cryptocurrency in oil trade. 

"We cannot have any trade in cryptocurrency as it is banned by the Reserve Bank of India. We will see which medium we can use for trade," she said.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons
 

Iran Expects Measures to Save Nuclear Deal by End of May

European countries have until the end of May to propose ways to mitigate the effects of the US withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran, a senior Iranian official said Friday.

Tehran has threatened to restart its uranium enrichment program at an "industrial level" if the 2015 pact falls apart.

The comments came ahead of the first "joint commission" meeting in Vienna between the other signatories of the deal—China, Russia, France, Britain, Germany and Iran—since Washington's dramatic announcement on May 8 that it was pulling out from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and would re-impose sanctions on Iran.

The move has put the deal in "intensive care", the senior Iranian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

US President Donald Trump has long trashed the deal—concluded under his predecessor Barack Obama -- saying it did not do enough to curtail Tehran's nuclear ambitions. 

After Friday's meeting, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said negotiations were ongoing with the remaining signatories "to see if they can provide us with a package which can give Iran the benefits of sanctions lifting."

He added that "practical solutions" were required to address Iran's concerns over its oil exports, banking flows and foreign investments in the country.  

"The next step is to find guarantees for that package," he said.

Araghchi said that talks would continue over the next few weeks "particularly at an expert level", after which Iran would decide whether or not to stay in the accord. 

"We got the sense that Europeans, Russia and China... are serious and they recognize that JCPOA's survival depends on the interests of Iran being respected," Araghchi added.

A senior EU official said after the meeting that the bloc could not "give guarantees but we can create the necessary conditions for the Iranians to keep benefiting from the sanctions lifting under the JCPOA and to protect our interests and continue to develop legitimate business with Iran."

"We are working on a variety of measures to mitigate consequences of the US withdrawal," the official, who did not want to be named, said while cautioning that "there are things that will take more time."

Russian delegate Mikhail Ulyanov struck an upbeat note, saying: "We have
all chances to succeed, provided that we have the political will.

"I must tell you that the JCPOA is a major international asset. It does not belong to the United States, it belongs to the whole international community."

He added that the possibility of referring the matter back to the UN "was not discussed during this meeting".

'Dying' Deal

Unusually for a meeting of the joint commission, the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog Yukiya Amano was invited to brief the participants on his organization's work in Iran.

According to a report seen by AFP on Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) believes Iran is still abiding by the deal's key restrictions on its nuclear facilities in return for relief from damaging economic sanctions.

The IAEA, however, is "encouraging (Iran) to go above and beyond the requirements" of the deal in order to boost confidence, said a senior diplomat in Vienna, where the nuclear watchdog is based. 

As well as criticizing the deal for not adequately restricting Iran's nuclear activities, Trump also said it did not go far enough in limiting Iran's ballistic missile program, or its intervention in regional conflicts from Yemen to Iraq and Syria.

The unnamed senior Iranian official rejected any attempt to link the JCPOA to other such issues.

The official said such an attempt would mean "we lose JCPOA and we (would) make the other issues even more complicated to resolve," adding it was pointless for the Europeans to try to "appease" Trump.

"We have now a deal which is in the intensive care unit, it's dying," the official said.  

The five signatories still committed to the agreement have said they want Iran to stay in the deal, with the European countries saying they would not rule out further talks with the Islamic Republic on an expanded text.

However, Iranian officials have warned that there was no question of broadening the discussions.

Photo Credit: YJC

Iran Nuclear Deal 'In Intensive Care' as Signatories Meet in Vienna

Signatories of the Iran nuclear deal are meeting in Vienna on Friday in a bid to save the agreement, as Iran warned the deal had been put "in intensive care" by Washington's dramatic withdrawal earlier this month.

For the first time since the accord came into force in 2015, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany will gather—at Iran's request—without the United States, which pulled out on May 8.

US President Donald Trump has long trashed the deal with Iran—concluded under his predecessor Barack Obama -- saying it did not do enough to curtail Tehran's nuclear ambitions. 

He also said it did not go far enough in restricting Iran's ballistic missile program, or its intervention in regional conflicts from Yemen to Iraq and Syria.

A senior Iranian official rejected any attempt to link the deal, known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to other such issues, saying it would mean "we lose JCPOA and we (would) make the other issues even more complicated to resolve", adding that it was pointless for the Europeans to try to "appease" Trump.

"We have now a deal which is in the intensive care unit, it's dying," he said. 

He added that the Europeans had promised Iran an "economic package" to maintain the benefits of the JCPOA for Iran despite the reintroduction of US sanctions. 

Iran expected this package by the end of May, he said, adding that Iran had only "a few weeks" before having to decide whether to keep participating in the deal or not.

Since the US pull out, the other signatories have embarked on a diplomatic marathon to try to keep the agreement afloat.

According to a report seen by AFP Thursday, an International Atomic Energy Agency believes Iran is still abiding by the deal's key restrictions on its nuclear facilities in return for relief from damaging economic sanctions.

The IAEA, however, is "encouraging (Iran) to go above and beyond the requirements" of the deal in order to boost confidence, said a senior diplomat in Vienna, where the IAEA is based. 

Iran has threatened to restart its uranium enrichment program at an "industrial level" if the deal falls apart.

The five signatories still committed to the agreement have said they want Iran to stay in the deal, with the European countries saying they would not rule out further talks with the Islamic Republic on an expanded text.

However, several Iranian officials warned that the Vienna meeting would be devoted to the existing agreement only, implying that there was no question of broadening the discussions.

Photo Credit: EEAS Twitter

'No Alternative' to Iran Deal, EU's Mogherini Tells U.S.

The EU's foreign policy chief warned Monday there was "no alternative" to the Iran nuclear deal, after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed unprecedented sanctions against Tehran following Washington's withdrawal from the pact.

Pompeo—a longtime Iran hawk and fierce opponent of the 2015 agreement earlier Monday outlined an aggressive series of "painful" measures designed to hurt Tehran, in his first key address since moving to the State Department from the CIA in April.

"Secretary Pompeo's speech has not demonstrated how walking away from the JCPOA (nuclear deal) has made or will make the region safer from the threat of nuclear proliferation or how it puts us in a better position to influence Iran's conduct in areas outside the scope of JCPOA," the European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement.

She stressed "there is no alternative" to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the deal is officially known.

US President Donald Trump sparked an international outcry earlier this month when he announced his country would pull out of the landmark accord struck in July 2015 between Tehran and major world powers.

His move came despite the fact that the UN's nuclear watchdog, in charge of monitoring Iran's compliance with the deal, has confirmed that Tehran has so far abided by the terms.

Trump wants Brussels and others to support his hardline strategy and push for a fresh agreement.

"Iran will never again have carte blanche to dominate the Middle East," Pompeo said Monday, outlining 12 tough conditions from Washington for any "new deal" with Tehran.

But Mogherini called on the US to keep its commitments as part of the agreement signed under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama.

"The JCPOA is the result of more than a decade of complex and delicate negotiations, based on dual track approach and therefore the best possible outcome, striking the right balance," Mogherini said.

"This deal belongs to the international community, having been endorsed by the United Nations Security Council. The international community expects all sides to keep the commitments they made more than two years ago," she added.

She reiterated that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had confirmed already 10 times that Iran has implemented "all its nuclear related commitments" under the agreement.

The re-establishment of the US punitive measures will likely force European companies to choose between investing in Iran or trading with the United States.

The EU has been trying to persuade Iran to stay in the 2015 agreement, even without Washington's participation.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons

Iran's Rouhani: 'World No Longer Accepts US Deciding For Them'

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani dismissed threats made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday, saying the rest of the world no longer accepts Washington making decisions on their behalf.

"Who are you to decide for Iran and the world?" Rouhani said in a statement carried by multiple Iranian news agencies.

"The world today does not accept that the United States decides for the world. Countries have their independence," he added.

It was a pointed response to Pompeo's speech earlier in the day, in which he threatened the "strongest sanctions in history" against Iran unless it capitulated to a series of 12 demands regarding its regional behavior and missile program.

But Rouhani dismissed the administration of President Donald Trump as a
"move 15 years backwards to the era of Bush junior and a repeat of the same
statements as 2003."

"The era of such statements has evolved and the Iranian people have heard these statements hundreds of times, and no longer pays attention," he added.

European leaders have strongly condemned the US move to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions, seeing it as undermining regional security and a direct attack on their economic interests.

Russia and China–two other parties to the agreement–have also criticized the US move and vowed to maintain trade with Iran.

"The world does not accept the logic by which a gentleman who was head of the spy service... decides for others," said Rouhani, referring to Pompeo's recent job as head of the CIA.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iran's Zarif Says EU Efforts to Save Nuke Deal 'Not Sufficient'

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Sunday that European efforts to save the nuclear deal after the exit of the United States were not sufficient. 

"The cascade of decisions by EU companies to end their activities in Iran makes things much more complicated," Zarif told reporters. 

He spoke after meeting with EU energy commissioner Miguel Arias Canete, who has been on a two-day visit to Tehran—the first by a Western official since Washington announced its withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal earlier this month.

"With the exit of the United States from the nuclear deal, the expectations of the Iranian public towards the European Union have increased... and the EU's political support for the nuclear agreement is not sufficient," Zarif added in comments carried by state broadcaster IRIB.

Several foreign firms have already halted their Iranian operations while they wait to see how talks within the EU will play out.

French oil major Total said last week it would abandon its $4.8-billion investment project in Iran unless it was granted a waiver from Washington. 

Another French energy giant, Engie, said Saturday it would cease engineering work in Iran before November, when US sanctions are due to be reimposed.  

"The European Union must take concrete supplementary steps to increase its investments in Iran. The commitments of the EU to apply the nuclear deal are not compatible with the announcement of probable withdrawal by major European companies," Zarif said.

Canete said he recognised that time was short and that clear measures were needed from Europe to protect investments and oil purchases.

Iran has threatened to resume industrial uranium enrichment "without limit" 
if its interests are not protected.

Photo Credit: Fars

Iran's Zarif says EU Meetings Must be Turned Into Action

Iran's foreign minister said Wednesday that meetings with EU leaders on salvaging the nuclear deal sent a strong political message but must now be turned into action.

"If the JCPOA (nuclear deal) is supposed to continue, it was a good start and it has sent an important political message, but this is not the end of the work," Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters on his flight back to Tehran, according to state news agency IRNA.

"From next week, intensive expert meetings will start in Europe. They must do the work, but they will consult us so that we are sure the actions they take are sufficient from our point of view," he added.

Zarif was returning from a diplomatic tour of the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement—Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia—following the US decision last week to pull out.

He met his European counterparts in Brussels on Tuesday.

"They said that they would ensure Iran enjoys the benefits of the JCPOA and they accepted that the implementation of the JCPOA has nothing to do with other issues," he said, referring to Iran's demand that talks on saving the deal must not be linked to pressure on its missile program and regional interventions.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Tuesday that experts had already begun work on measures to get round US sanctions, focusing on nine key areas including Iran's ability to continue selling oil and gas products, and how to protect European companies doing business in the country.

"We are not fantasizing that Europe will break its relations with America... but we want Europeans to defend their own interests," Zarif added. 

He said the negative global reaction to Washington's withdrawal from the nuclear agreement —and the new sanctions it announced Tuesday on Iran's central bank—reflected US isolation on the Iran issue.

"America is not in charge of everything in the world. Of course, Americans would like the whole world to think this way and when the world doesn't think this way, they take some angry actions such as sanctioning the head of the central bank without any reason," Zarif said.

"We must expect more such moves by the Americans. These moves are against
the law, contrary to conventional international relations and indicate their
weakness."

Photo Credit: GermanyInEU