LONDON (Dispatches) -- Iran requires a commitment that the U.S. will not again leave the nuclear deal signed with world powers in 2015, the country’s new chief negotiator and deputy foreign minister has said.
Ali Baqeri-Kani also said that talks in Vienna between Iran and other signatories had failed to reach agreement on a means of verifying that U.S. sanctions had both been removed and had a practical impact on trade with Iran.
“We need verification, and this remains unresolved. It is one of the issues that remains not finalized. It is not enough for the ink to be put on the agreement,” he said. Baqeri-Kani did not rule out an independent body being responsible for verification.
The Vienna talks are due to recommence at the end of the month after being suspended in June. Baqeri-Kani is touring European capitals to set out the Iranian negotiating position.
Iran has said it will not take its own steps back into full compliance with the deal until verification of U.S. actions has been secured. Iran has been increasing its uranium stockpile and use of advanced centrifuges beyond the limits set in the deal under an article of the nuclear agreement. It has limited the access of the UN nuclear inspectorate.
Defending his demand that the U.S. give a guarantee that it will comply with the agreement, Baqeri Kani said: “This is about an agreement not a policy. If there is a peace agreement between two states, it has the effect of a treaty. This is international law. It is not intended that domestic laws of the U.S. can prevail over an international agreement. That is against international law.”
He added he wanted European powers to give their own guarantees that they will trade with Iran, regardless of the U.S. position, possibly by using a blocking statute nullifying the effect of U.S. sanctions on European firms that trade with Iran.
Baqeri-Kani also ruled out discussions on Iran’s missile and security program being included in the agreement. He said: “the JCPOA has a clear framework and other issues are not relevant. We are not going to negotiate on our defense capabilities or our security.”
He added: “Iran’s relations with other countries did not need a guardian.”
He denied his negotiating stance was so tough that it would be impossible to reach an agreement in Vienna. “We are just saying that in accordance with the JCPOA the sanctions should be lifted. We did a deal, and our view is that it should be implemented.” Asked if he was requiring the Vienna talks to go back to the start, he said: “What is important is not from where we started, but what is important is that we achieve a deal that has practical results for the parties. Our main objective is to remove the illegal

sanctions that they have imposed on the Iranian nation in breach of UN resolutions. Any sanctions in breach of the JCPOA imposed by President Obama and President Trump have to be lifted. That is the agreement set out the JCPOA.”
He also said the Europeans could provide powerful tools to bolster the agreement, especially employing blocking statutes to protect European companies doing business with Tehran from any future American sanctions.
“The use of their capabilities and means, including blocking statutes,” could definitely help, the deputy Iranian foreign minister said.
“We want all the sanctions that are contrary to the nuclear deal to be lifted, whether that’s from the Obama or Trump era,” Baqeri-Kani said.
The top Iranian diplomat also said that a 400 million pound ($535 million) debt owed by the UK to Tehran over a decades-old military contract will hopefully be settled “soon,” and that the two countries are trying to work out how the payment can be made.
Baqer-Kani said the matter had been discussed in his meeting with British Foreign Ministry officials on Thursday.
“The main issue about paying the debt and its level is agreed, but the method and process of how the payment is made hasn’t yet been resolved,” he said, adding that the discussions will continue in Tehran next week.
The International Military Services (IMS), a subsidiary of the British Ministry of Defense, signed contracts in 1971 to sell more than 1,750 Chieftain tanks and armored vehicles to Iran. The deals were canceled after the Pahlavi regime was deposed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but Iran had already paid for the undelivered tanks and demanded its money back.