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A8 up front
Wednesday 15 January 2020
EU pressures Iran on atom deal in last-ditch bid to save it

Continued from Front will and constructive effort"
that preserves the nuclear
The three nations specifi- deal, Iran's official IRNA
cally avoided threatening news agency reported.
the sanctions while empha- The accord, which Iran
sizing hopes for a negoti- signed with the U.S., Brit-
ated resolution. They held ain, Germany, France,
off their announcement China and Russia in 2015,
until tensions between the has been unraveling since
U.S. and Iran had calmed Trump pulled Washington
down after the Jan. 3 kill- out in 2018 and reinstated
ing of an Iranian general in sanctions designed to crip-
an American drone strike ple the Islamic Republic un-
so their intent would not be der what the U.S. called a
misinterpreted. "maximum pressure" cam-
"Our goal is clear: We want paign.
to preserve the accord The Europeans felt com-
and come to a diplomatic pelled to act, despite ob-
solution within the agree- jections from Russia and
ment," German Foreign China, because every vio-
Minister Heiko Maas said in lation of the deal reduces
a statement. "We will tackle the so-called "breakout
this together with all part- time" Iran needs to pro-
ners in the agreement. We duce a nuclear bomb, In this Dec. 23, 2019 file photo released by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, technicians
call on Iran to participate Britain's Foreign Secretary work at the Arak heavy water reactor’s secondary circuit, as officials and media visit the site, near
constructively in the nego- Dominic Raab told Parlia- Arak, Iran.
tiation process that is now ment. Associated Press
beginning." "Each of these actions the Joint Comprehensive rich uranium, and the purity In their letter to the EU's for-
Iran's Foreign Ministry were individually serious," Plan of Action or JCPOA, that is allowed, that esti- eign policy chief announc-
warned of a "serious and Raab said. "Together, they Iran's "breakout" time was mate grew to more than a ing their move, the three
strong response" to the Eu- now raise acute concerns estimated to be as little as year. countries distanced them-
ropean move. But at the about Iran's nuclear am- two months. With the safe- Trump said the deal should selves from the new U.S.
same time, ministry spokes- bitions." Iran insists it is not guards in place, limiting be renegotiated because sanctions.
man Abbas Mousavi held seeking an atomic weap- Iran's stockpiles of enriched it didn't address Iran's bal- "Our three countries are
out an olive branch, say- on. uranium and heavy water, listic missile program or its not joining a campaign to
ing his country was "fully At the time of the sign- the number and types of involvement in regional implement maximum pres-
ready to answer any good ing of the deal, known as centrifuges it can use to en- conflicts, and reimposed sure against Iran," they said.
U.S. sanctions that have left "Our hope is to bring Iran
Iran's economy reeling. To back into full compliance
pressure the remaining sig- with its commitments."
natories to provide enough At the same time, they
economic incentives to off- rejected Tehran's argu-
set the U.S. sanctions, Iran ment that it was justified
last year began violating its in violating the deal be-
limitations in stages. cause Washington broke
Throughout, it has an- the agreement first when it
nounced the violations pulled out.
publicly and continued to Invoking the dispute mech-
allow inspectors from the anism starts a 30-day pe-
International Atomic Ener- riod in which to resolve the
gy Agency in to its facilities. problem, which can be
Following the U.S. drone extended and probably
strike that killed Revolution- will be. If the problem per-
ary Guard Gen. Qassem sists, the matter could be
Soleimani, Iran announced brought before the U.N.
what it said was its fifth and Security Council and might
final step in violating the result in the "snapback" of
deal, saying it would no sanctions that had been
longer abide by any limita- lifted under the deal.
tion to its enrichment activi- Despite Iran's recent viola-
ties. tions, all remaining parties
That left the Europeans to the JCPOA have said it is
"with no choice" but to in- worth preserving, saying it is
voke the dispute mecha- the best way to curb Iran's
nism, Raab told Parliament. nuclear program. Diplo-
"We do so with a view to mats note that even with
bringing Iran back into its violations, Iran is still en-
full compliance," he said, riching uranium to a lower
adding that they hope the purity than it did before the
move will "reinforce the deal, and IAEA inspectors
diplomatic track, not to continue to have access to
abandon it." its facilities. q