BICOM

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told French and German leaders that an European package to salvage the nuclear deal “does not meet all our demands”.

According to Iranian state news agency IRNA, Rouhani said that the European offer of economic measures to counter the effects of the US leaving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal does not go far enough.

A meeting of foreign ministers from Iran, UK, France, German, Russia, China is taking place in Vienna today. Reuters reports that European diplomat sources said the meeting will discuss the European package that aims to persuade Iran to stick with the deal. They said: “The objective is to save the deal. We’ve made some progress, including on safeguarding some crude sales, but it’s unlikely to meet Iranian expectations. It’s also not just about what the Europeans can do, but also how the Chinese, Russians, Indians, others can contribute.”

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the talks should give an “impetus” to protect the interests of economic actors.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the meeting would “send a united and determined signal” to the world that the other parties “will continue to respect the agreement”.

Iranian officials have described the meeting as important, adding that one key issue is agreeing measures to guarantee oil exports, and that the country still has access to the SWIFT international bank payments system.

Reuters reports that “the pillars of the European Union’s strategy are: European Investment Bank lending, a special measure to shield EU companies from US secondary sanctions and a Commission proposal that EU governments make direct money transfers to Iran’s central bank to avoid US penalties”.

Since US President Donald Trump announced the US was leaving the JCPOA, Washington has warned countries to end trade and investment in Iran and to stop buying its oil. Other signatories to the deal have vowed to remain in the accord, but many European companies have already announced they are leaving Iran or suspending planned investments due to fear of US economic penalties.