British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt on Monday discussed with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif and the secretary of Iran’s National Security Council Ali Shamkhani the future of the nuclear agreement after the US withdrawal and Tehran’s regional role, in addition to the file of detainees of dual nationality.
Hunt said on his Twitter account at the end of his talks in Tehran that he discussed how to put pressure on the Houthis to stop the war in Yemen and stressed in a second tweet that he exerted serious pressure to release Iranian-British dual nationals.
Hunt’s visit comes at a time when European countries are trying to maintain the nuclear deal in parallel with pressure on Tehran to contain its regional role and halt the development of ballistic missiles in an effort to ease US pressure.
Before the visit to Tehran, the British foreign secretary held consultations with Saudi Arabia and the UAE on Iran’s destabilizing role.
Hunt and his Iranian counterpart discussed the need to speed up European efforts to end the conflict in Yemen, where Iran supports Houthi militias by providing them with weapons and rockets.
“This is part of the world that is quite frankly a tinderbox. We want to move to peace in Yemen – that is our number one priority at the moment,” Hunt told reporters.
He also emphasized the case of dual nationals “who are in prison who should not be.” “We want to get them home, so all these things have to be discussed,” he added.
On Iran’s nuclear deal, Hunt said: “The Iran nuclear deal remains a vital component of stability in the Middle East by eliminating the threat of a nuclearized Iran. It needs 100% compliance, though, to survive. We will stick to our side of the bargain as long as Iran does.”
