European countries said on Thursday they wanted to preserve Iran's nuclear deal and rejected "ultimatums" from Tehran, after Iran scaled back curbs on its nuclear programme and threatened moves that might breach the pact. Iran announced steps on Wednesday to relax some steps that restrict its stockpiling of nuclear materials in response to new U.S. sanctions imposed after Washington abandoned world powers' 2015 accord with Tehran a year ago.
Tehran's initial moves do not appear to violate the accord yet. But President Hassan Rouhani said that unless the powers protect Iran's economy from U.S. sanctions within 60 days, Iran would start enriching uranium beyond limits set by the deal. "We reject any ultimatums and we will assess Iran's compliance on the basis of Iran's performance regarding its nuclear-related commitments...," read a statement issued jointly by the European Union and the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany, co-signatories of the deal.
"We are determined to continue pursuing efforts to enable the continuation of legitimate trade with Iran," they said, adding that this included getting a special purpose vehicle aimed at enabling non-dollar business with Iran off the ground.
In response, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on his Twitter account that EU countries should uphold their obligations in the nuclear deal with Iran and normalise economic ties despite U.S. sanctions, "instead of demanding that Iran unilaterally abide by a multilateral accord".
The nuclear deal required Iran to curb its uranium enrichment capacity to head off any pathway to developing a nuclear bomb, in return for the removal of most international sanctions. A series of more intrusive U.N. inspections under the deal have verified that Iran is meeting its commitments.
HARDLINERS
The administration of President Donald Trump quit the agreement a year ago and reimposed U.S. sanctions, which it has ratcheted up this month, effectively ordering all countries to halt all purchases of Iranian oil or face their own sanctions. The move creates a dilemma for Washington's European allies which say they share its concerns about Iranian behaviour - including a ballistic missile programme and alleged involvement in various Middle East conflicts - but think the Trump administration's tactics are likely to backfire.