Iran is ready to form a real and lasting agreement that includes strict monitoring and limits on its domestic uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, its foreign minister, Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, has said.
But, writing for the Guardian, he urges the European nations to change course and abandon their plan to snapback a wide array of UN sanctions at the end of the month.
He warns: “If this short opportunity to change course is missed, it will have consequences that could be unprecedentedly destructive for the region and beyond.”
Iran is still hoping Europeans can be persuaded to defer snapping back sanctions at the UN security council, arguing that Europe will not benefit from such a move since it will only leave the US in the driving seat on negotiating any new nuclear deal, and Europe isolated. However, conflicting signals are emerging from within Iran.
Araghchi said he had made progress in recent talks with the UN weapons inspectors on their terms for their return to Iran’s bombed nuclear sites, one of the preconditions set by Europe before it would defer the snapback.
But the conservative-dominated Iranian parliament is still discussing a bill that would require Iran to leave the nuclear non-proliferation treaty if UN sanctions were restored, a move that would free Iran from all requirements to allow UN weapons inspectors into Iran and so shut off all independent access to its nuclear sites.
Araghchi’s Guardian article is a reproach to the traditional European powers on Iran – France, Germany and the UK – challenging them to explain why it is in their self-interest to have shifted away from being mediators for an multilateral agreement between Iran and the US, and instead “become a facilitator of America’s excesses”. Araghchi met with the EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, in Doha last Thursday.
He claims European leaders have made a huge mistake if they think that by being tough with Iran, the US president, Donald Trump, will stop viewing them as secondary actors and give them a place on the world stage.
The return of UN sanctions “will only exclude the three countries from future diplomatic processes, with widespread negative consequences for the whole of Europe in terms of its credibility and global standing,” he wrote.
“President Trump has made it clear that he views the three European countries as secondary players, and this is evident in the exclusion of Europe from issues that are vital to its future, including the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Washington’s message is clear: to gain a foothold, the three countries must demonstrate unwavering loyalty.”
He also claims that if Israel tries to relaunch the 12-day war on Iran it fought in June, it will have to run back to the US for help, a reference to Israel’s dependence on US military hardware.
“Israel may present itself as capable of fighting on behalf of the west, but as we saw in June, the truth is that Iran’s powerful armed forces are once again ready and capable of defeating Israel to the point where it will be forced to turn to ‘Grandpa’ for salvation.”
