VIENNA �� Top diplomats from world powers will meet Friday in a bid to defend their nuclear deal with Iran from attack by President Donald Trump.
Foreign ministers from China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom will convene in Vienna for the first time without the U.S. in order "to ensure the continued implementation" of the agreement, which granted Iran a reprieve from sanctions in exchange for limits to its nuclear program, according to a European Union statement Wednesday. Trump abandoned the deal in May and re-imposed sanctions against countries and companies that do business with Iran.
"Austria and the European Union are ready to maintain and deepen the framework for cooperation with Iran," Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen said after a meeting in the Austrian capital with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani. U.S. threats to impose secondary sanctions violate the rights of European companies and individuals, Van der Bellen said.
Iran, a major oil exporter that also has the world's second-biggest natural gas reserves, has demanded that EU countries come up with concrete economic steps to defend nuclear deal. The July 2015 agreement was plunged into crisis by Trump's decision, even as international inspectors continued to verify that Rouhani's government was living up to its side of the bargain. The U.S. accuses Iran of violating the agreement's spirit through destabilizing activities the Middle East.
Rouhani said Wednesday that Iran will not leave the agreement as long as it is profitable to his country The Iranian leader was on the second leg of a two-day tour of Austria and Switzerland, the two neutral countries in the heart of Europe where the nuclear deal was negotiated.
A U.S. State Department official warned Tuesday in Washington that any plans to continue doing business with Iran will run afoul of U.S. sanctions.
"Our goal is to increase pressure on the Iranian regime by reducing to zero its revenue from crude oil sales," said Brian Hook, who has led Trump administration discussions with European allies on the sanctions. "We are prepared to work with countries that are reducing their imports on a case-by-case basis, but as with our other sanctions we are not looking to grant waivers or licenses."
Much of Iran's oil revenue and banking ties will be at stake if neither can be protected by the EU. Rouhani, who faces intense pressure from hardline conservatives at home who accuse him of being naive for trusting the U.S., would be left with little incentive to remain in the deal and in compliance with its terms and conditions.
EU states have been skeptical of proposals to allow European finance to bypass American sanctions.
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(Ladane Nasseri contributed to this report.)
