Iran threatens to withdraw from nuclear deal

Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, yesterday threatened that his country would withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal if Tehran’s economic needs were not met after the United States (US)’ imposed sanctions.

“The European Union countries and the rest of countries committed with the nuclear deal know that Iran will not stay if its economic needs were not met with the framework of the agreement,” Zarif told Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (ICANA).

Zarif pointed out that the EU countries had faced difficulties in finding a country to host the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) system, which was developed as a money transfer mechanism not included by the US sanctions.

The Iranian official pointed out that all the countries which were previously proposed for hosting the SPV system, have been rejecting the offer since then. He stressed that all countries have the right to search for alternative ways to protect their national interests.

On Monday, the US warned countries which were “considering to shift to the SPV system.”

In August, the US imposed economic sanctions on Iran, which mainly targeted the country’s banking sector, a few months after Washington withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. The US renewed its sanctions on Iran on 5 November, targeting the country’s energy, shipbuilding, shipping financial sectors.

In 2015, Iran signed a long-term deal on its nuclear programme with a group of the world powers, including the US, United Kingdom (UK), France, China, Russia and Germany.