Despite sanctions offered by Iran, Iran aims to keep nuclear deal alive until US elections

DUBAI / NEW YORK (Reuters) – The fate of a fragile 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers depends on the outcome of the US presidential election in November, not on a planned US bid this week for a return of all UN sanctions on Tehran, several Iranian officials said.

When Iran agreed to impose sanctions in exchange for sidewalks on its nuclear program, Tehran warned that it would no longer stick to the deal if one of the parties imposed a so-called snapback of sanctions at the UN Security Council, a backstop included in the agreement in case Iran ceased to fill.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has plans this week to use that snapback facility, even though the deal stopped in 2018 and the move is opposed by the remaining parties to the agreement – Germany, Britain, France, Russia, China and Iran.

But despite Tehran’s statement five years ago, three senior Iranian officials told Reuters that Iran’s leadership is determined to remain committed to the nuclear deal, hoping for a victory by Trump’s political rival Joe Biden in the presidential election. November 3 it saves the pact.

“Right now, the decision is to stay in the deal, even as Americans make their biggest mistake of the snapback mechanism,” said a senior official, on condition of anonymity, who is involved in the talks on nuclear policy. of Iran.

“We will still be here, but Trump may not be at the White House in a few months,” the official said.

Biden has said he would rejoin the nuclear deal, but only if Iran were to return to compliance first. The agreement was agreed by the administration of former US President Barack Obama, when Biden was vice president.

A second Iranian official – a former nuclear negotiator – said Iran was “technically and politically” ready to stop.

“But we must be smart and not fall into the American trap that Iran wants to get out of the deal,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

‘ENORMOUS LEVERAGE’

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has described the next few weeks and months as critical of the nuclear deal.

To trigger a return if all UN sanctions on Iran the United States lodge a complaint with the 15-member Security Council over Iran’s non-compliance with the nuclear deal.

In response to what Washington calls its “maximum pressure” campaign – a bid to get Iran to negotiate a new deal – Tehran has broken several key boundaries of the 2015 deal, including on its supply of enriched uranium.

But diplomats say the snapback process will be difficult and cumbersome, as Russia, China and other countries on the Security Council challenge the legitimacy of the US movement, as Washington itself no longer meets what Trump “worst” deal ever mentioned “and imposed strong unilateral sanctions on Iran.

A European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US move to raise revenue from all UN sanctions would “destroy” the nuclear deal, but “it would be a completely contested procedure, so the snapback will have no effect, it will not be recognized by others. ”

The United States states that it can trigger the repeal of the sanctions, as it is still mentioned as a participant in the nuclear deal in a 2015 UN Security Council resolution anchoring the agreement.

A second European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “the overwhelming majority of the international community” is of the opinion that the United States cannot trigger snapback.

Outgoing U.S. Ambassador Brian Hook said Tuesday that the nuclear deal, although well-intentioned, failed to contain Iran.

“We have imposed huge levies for a (Trump) second term to get the kind of outcomes we need,” he told a United Against Nuclear Iran think tank event.