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| World powers urge Iran to stick to nuclear deal abandoned by US | World powers urge Iran to stick to nuclear deal abandoned by US |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| World powers meeting in Vienna have urged Iran to stick to the terms of a nuclear accord to save the fraying deal from collapse a year after the US abandoned it. | |
| Envoys from Britain, Germany, China, Russia and France held a quarterly meeting with Iran in Vienna to discuss sticking to the terms of the 2015 deal, which reduces nuclear capabilities and limits the enrichment and stockpiling of uranium in return for relief from international sanctions. | Envoys from Britain, Germany, China, Russia and France held a quarterly meeting with Iran in Vienna to discuss sticking to the terms of the 2015 deal, which reduces nuclear capabilities and limits the enrichment and stockpiling of uranium in return for relief from international sanctions. |
| The three EU states were supported in a statement by eight other EU countries that warned Iran not to start to reduce its commitments to the deal as it has threatened to do as early as this weekend. | The three EU states were supported in a statement by eight other EU countries that warned Iran not to start to reduce its commitments to the deal as it has threatened to do as early as this weekend. |
| In July 2015, Iran and a six-nation negotiating group reached a landmark agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that ended a 12-year deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear programme. The deal, struck in Vienna after nearly two years of intensive talks, limited the Iranian programme, to reassure the rest of the world that it cannot develop nuclear weapons, in return for sanctions relief. | In July 2015, Iran and a six-nation negotiating group reached a landmark agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that ended a 12-year deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear programme. The deal, struck in Vienna after nearly two years of intensive talks, limited the Iranian programme, to reassure the rest of the world that it cannot develop nuclear weapons, in return for sanctions relief. |
| At its core, the JCPOA is a straightforward bargain: Iran’s acceptance of strict limits on its nuclear programme in return for an escape from the sanctions that grew up around its economy over a decade prior to the accord. Under the deal, Iran unplugged two-thirds of its centrifuges, shipped out 98% of its enriched uranium and filled its plutonium production reactor with concrete. Tehran also accepted extensive monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has verified 10 times since the agreement, and as recently as February, that Tehran has complied with its terms. In return, all nuclear-related sanctions were lifted in January 2016, reconnecting Iran to global markets. | At its core, the JCPOA is a straightforward bargain: Iran’s acceptance of strict limits on its nuclear programme in return for an escape from the sanctions that grew up around its economy over a decade prior to the accord. Under the deal, Iran unplugged two-thirds of its centrifuges, shipped out 98% of its enriched uranium and filled its plutonium production reactor with concrete. Tehran also accepted extensive monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has verified 10 times since the agreement, and as recently as February, that Tehran has complied with its terms. In return, all nuclear-related sanctions were lifted in January 2016, reconnecting Iran to global markets. |
| The six major powers involved in the nuclear talks with Iran were in a group known as the P5+1: the UN security council’s five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the UK and the US – and Germany. The nuclear deal is also enshrined in a UN security council resolution that incorporated it into international law. The 15 members of the council at the time unanimously endorsed the agreement. | The six major powers involved in the nuclear talks with Iran were in a group known as the P5+1: the UN security council’s five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the UK and the US – and Germany. The nuclear deal is also enshrined in a UN security council resolution that incorporated it into international law. The 15 members of the council at the time unanimously endorsed the agreement. |
| On 8 May 2018, US president Donald Trump pulled his country out of the deal. Iran announced its partial withdrawal from the nuclear deal a year later. | On 8 May 2018, US president Donald Trump pulled his country out of the deal. Iran announced its partial withdrawal from the nuclear deal a year later. |
| Saeed Kamali Dehghan, Iran correspondent | Saeed Kamali Dehghan, Iran correspondent |
| Iran is pressing for the EU to set up a trading mechanism to ease trade and boost Iranian oil exports. | Iran is pressing for the EU to set up a trading mechanism to ease trade and boost Iranian oil exports. |
| The warning came as Brian Hook, the US special representative on Iran, said in London that Washington would “intensify” sanctions by threatening any entity that tried to import Iranian oil. | The warning came as Brian Hook, the US special representative on Iran, said in London that Washington would “intensify” sanctions by threatening any entity that tried to import Iranian oil. |
| He also promised the US would go ahead with plans to impose sanctions on Iran’s chief diplomat, Javad Zarif. He said Iran’s goal was to bring the Middle East under the thrall of Tehran’s “Marxist theocratic” ideology. | |
| Hook was in London to urge the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), a UN body, to back his plan for a new UN-endorsed maritime protection force, modelled on an established UN anti-piracy force off the coast of Somalia. | Hook was in London to urge the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), a UN body, to back his plan for a new UN-endorsed maritime protection force, modelled on an established UN anti-piracy force off the coast of Somalia. |
| He said Iran, by its threats to Gulf shipping, was “courting a financial and environment disaster”, and was breaching all maritime rules by turning off its ship collision avoidance transponders in an attempt to smuggle oil out of Iran and avoid being tracked by the US. | He said Iran, by its threats to Gulf shipping, was “courting a financial and environment disaster”, and was breaching all maritime rules by turning off its ship collision avoidance transponders in an attempt to smuggle oil out of Iran and avoid being tracked by the US. |
| “An outlaw regime is violating basic maritime law and now represents a maritime threat across the Gulf,” Hook said after meeting the IMO secretary general, Kitack Lim. | “An outlaw regime is violating basic maritime law and now represents a maritime threat across the Gulf,” Hook said after meeting the IMO secretary general, Kitack Lim. |
| Hook went further than before by accusing Iran of planning to gain a stranglehold on all international oil-related shipping by controlling not just the Gulf of Oman, off the Iranian coast, but also the Red Sea shipping lanes through the Bab al-Mandab strait off Yemen that take oil into the Arabian Sea and on to Asia. | Hook went further than before by accusing Iran of planning to gain a stranglehold on all international oil-related shipping by controlling not just the Gulf of Oman, off the Iranian coast, but also the Red Sea shipping lanes through the Bab al-Mandab strait off Yemen that take oil into the Arabian Sea and on to Asia. |
| The strait of Hormuz, which provides passage from the Gulf of Oman to the open sea, is the most important gateway for oil exports in the world. With Iran on its northern shore, and the UAE and Oman on its southern shore, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) calls it the world’s worst 'chokepoint' | The strait of Hormuz, which provides passage from the Gulf of Oman to the open sea, is the most important gateway for oil exports in the world. With Iran on its northern shore, and the UAE and Oman on its southern shore, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) calls it the world’s worst 'chokepoint' |
| In 2016, 18.5m barrels of crude oil were transported each day through the strait of Hormuz, compared with 16m through the strait of Malacca, which runs between the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Malaysia and Thailand, connecting the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea. 5m barrels of crude oil are transported annually through the next largest chokepoint, the Suez canal. | In 2016, 18.5m barrels of crude oil were transported each day through the strait of Hormuz, compared with 16m through the strait of Malacca, which runs between the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Malaysia and Thailand, connecting the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea. 5m barrels of crude oil are transported annually through the next largest chokepoint, the Suez canal. |
| Phillip Inman | Phillip Inman |
| His claim shows the extent to which the US regards defeat of the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen as integral to the wider defeat of Iran. | |
| “If we do not prevent Iranians from laying down deep roots in Yemen, they will be in a position to threaten to close the strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab,” Hook said. | “If we do not prevent Iranians from laying down deep roots in Yemen, they will be in a position to threaten to close the strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab,” Hook said. |
| “They are seeking to do in Yemen what they succeeded to do in Lebanon. They would like to ‘Lebanonise’ Yemen and become a power broker on the Saudi southern border and to be in a position to harass the Emiratis and Saudis, and to be another threat in their threat matrix to freedom of navigation. We are pushing back on Iran’s long game in Yemen.” | “They are seeking to do in Yemen what they succeeded to do in Lebanon. They would like to ‘Lebanonise’ Yemen and become a power broker on the Saudi southern border and to be in a position to harass the Emiratis and Saudis, and to be another threat in their threat matrix to freedom of navigation. We are pushing back on Iran’s long game in Yemen.” |
| Hook said US sanctions were designed to force Iran to sign a treaty covering its nuclear goals, ballistic missiles, regional interference and the recognition of the status of dual nationals, such as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British Iranian dual national in jail in Tehran on espionage changes. | Hook said US sanctions were designed to force Iran to sign a treaty covering its nuclear goals, ballistic missiles, regional interference and the recognition of the status of dual nationals, such as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British Iranian dual national in jail in Tehran on espionage changes. |
| The sanctions, hailed by Hook as unprecedented, have so far cut Iranian oil exports to 400,000 barrels a day, levels that put the Iranian government finances deep into debt. | The sanctions, hailed by Hook as unprecedented, have so far cut Iranian oil exports to 400,000 barrels a day, levels that put the Iranian government finances deep into debt. |
| “This is a clerical regime that wants to remake the Middle East in its image – and that would deeply destabilise the Middle East to have regimes following the same Marxist theocratic regime,” Hook said. | “This is a clerical regime that wants to remake the Middle East in its image – and that would deeply destabilise the Middle East to have regimes following the same Marxist theocratic regime,” Hook said. |
| Describing the state of tension in the region, he said Iran’s goal “is to scare the global oil market to keep the price up and to keep the world on edge”. | Describing the state of tension in the region, he said Iran’s goal “is to scare the global oil market to keep the price up and to keep the world on edge”. |
| Insisting the US did not need to make the first diplomatic move, he said: “The ball is in no one’s court right now. The president has got plenty of time. We have put in place a sanctions architecture that does not have historic precedent. They are responding as they are responding because they know the sanctions are working. They are not used to being told ‘no’.” | Insisting the US did not need to make the first diplomatic move, he said: “The ball is in no one’s court right now. The president has got plenty of time. We have put in place a sanctions architecture that does not have historic precedent. They are responding as they are responding because they know the sanctions are working. They are not used to being told ‘no’.” |
| Iran nuclear deal | Iran nuclear deal |
| Iran | Iran |
| Iran's nuclear programme | Iran's nuclear programme |
| Nuclear power | Nuclear power |
| Energy | Energy |
| Middle East and North Africa | Middle East and North Africa |
| US foreign policy | US foreign policy |
| news | news |
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