Iran says to meet nuclear deal parties on Sunday

Iran’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Kazem Gharib Abadi give a press conference after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors meeting in Vienna on July 10, 2019. – The UN’s nuclear watchdog will hold a special meeting on Iran’s nuclear program, after Tehran breached one of the limits set in a 2015 deal with world powers. (Photo by Alex Halada / AFP)

TEHRAN — Iran said it will attend a meeting in Vienna on Sunday of diplomats from countries still party to the 2015 nuclear deal, as they try to salvage the landmark agreement.

The hard-won deal has been threatened with collapse since the United States withdrew from it last year and reimposed biting sanctions against Iran as part of a “maximum pressure” campaign.

“It was agreed to convene an extraordinary meeting of the JCPOA joint commission in Vienna on July 28,” Iran’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday, using the acronym for the deal’s formal name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The meeting would be held at the level of deputy ministers and political directors, it said in an English-language statement.

It was requested by the European parties to discuss the “new situation”, the statement added, referring to Iran’s reduced nuclear commitments under the deal in response to the US withdrawal.

Iran said on May 8 it would disregard certain limits of the deal as long as the remaining parties — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — fail to do more to mitigate the impact of the US sanctions, especially to sell its oil.

Tehran has also threatened to take further measures.

It has since exceeded limits the deal had set on its enriched uranium and heavy water stockpiles, as well as passing a cap the deal had imposed on its uranium enrichment.

The 4.5 percent enrichment level it reached is well below the more than 90 percent required for a nuclear warhead.

Iran has yet to specify what further steps it may take, and has repeatedly emphasized that its actions can be reversed “within hours” if European partners deliver on their commitments. /muf