Iran rejects report about proposal for new agreement with major powers

Iran has rejected a report about a proposal for conclusion of a new agreement between Iran and major world powers, saying such baseless claims are fabricated by Zionist media and other international anarchists.

A German newspaper reported on Sunday that diplomats from all signatories to the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), except for the United States will meet in Vienna on Friday to discuss next steps after US pullout from the deal.

The Welt am Sonntag newspaper cited an unnamed senior EU official as saying that the diplomats would discuss a proposal for a new agreement between Iran and world powers that would be the same as the JCPOA but with some additions to appease the United States.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Sunday, “Such baseless news and claims are rooted in the think tanks of the Zionist media and other international anarchists as well as ill-wishers of the Iranian nation with the purpose of creating a negative atmosphere and diverting the course of dialogue between Iran and other sides in the JCPOA.”

After the “unilateral and illegal” US exit from this “international agreement” and in response to calls by other sides to remain in the deal, Iran has explicitly announced that it would stay in the accord if other parties would be able to observe the Islamic Republic’s rights stipulated in the JCPOA and fully implement it, he added.

The spokesman said it is important to determine whether the other sides would be able to fulfill their commitments under the JCPOA or not.

Qassemi emphasized that participants at the first session of the JCPOA joint commission without the US, which is scheduled to be convened upon Iran’s proposal in the coming days, would “only discuss issues pertaining to the JCPOA.”

US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was walking away from the nuclear agreement, which was reached between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the US, Britain, France, Russia and China — plus Germany.

Trump also said he would reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose “the highest level” of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

Iran has said it would remain in the JCPOA for now, pending negotiations with the other signatories in the coming weeks before making a final decision on its future role in the agreement. Tehran wants the Europeans to give it clear-cut guarantees about fulfilling their obligations if it remains in the accord.

The three European signatories to the JCPOA have expressed their determination to preserve the landmark Iran nuclear deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday that the European Union’s “political support” for the multilateral nuclear agreement is not enough, urging the bloc to take more practical steps to boost economic cooperation with Iran.

“With the US exiting the JCPOA, public opinion’s expectations from the European Union have increased to save the JCPOA’s achievements,” the top Iranian diplomat said in a meeting with the European Commissioner for Energy and Climate Miguel Arias Cañete and his accompanying delegation in Tehran.