A foreign ministers summit in Vienna. Tehran calls for economic and commercial reassurance on signed commitments. Rouhani: the measures taken so far "do not meet" the requests. Chinese Minister: send a "united signal" on will to "respect the agreement".
Vienna (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Foreign ministers from Teheran and the five powers (China, Russia, Britain, France plus Germany) meet this morning in Vienna, Austria, to sign a in an attempt to save the nuclear agreement (Jcpoa ) after the US decision to cancel it and at the same time introduce the harshest sanctions in history against Iran. The Islamic Republic is demanding extensive economic and commercial assurances on commitments signed.
However, on the eve of the meeting, President Hassan Rouhani told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that the economic measures taken by Europe are not enough for Tehran. The Iranian leader, who visited the continent this week in search of EU support, told the Élysée that the package offered "does not meet all requests".
Abandoning the agreement last May, Washington demanded Jcpoa signatories cancel all forms of investment with the Islamic Republic and to stop purchasing oil starting November. The five remaining members disagree and have said they want to keep the pact alive but seem unable to stop the flight of companies and investors from Iran in fear of US reprisals.
Today's meeting in Vienna will discuss the offers put in place by Europe to safeguard the nuclear pact. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov hopes that the talks will "boost" the protection of the interests of individual actors. His Chinese colleague Wang Yi adds that the meeting will send "a unified and determined signal" to the world that the parties involved "will continue to respect the agreement".
Since the US decision to withdraw, the Iranian currency has collapsed, prices have risen and the country has seen long street protests and strikes. Rouhani, one of the great architects of the deal with the former US president Obama, is the subject of very harsh attacks launched by the internal ultra-conservative faction.
In recent days, the head of the UN agency for nuclear power (IAEA) Yukiya Amano stressed that Tehran continues to respect the agreements stipulated by the pact to the letter. During an interview with the same Amano, the Iranian president has defined the US sanctions "a crime and an aggression" against which the other signatory nations are called to "resist".