Official: U.S. Sanctions Have Endangered Nuclear Deal

Date: 16 November 2018 - 21:22

News ID: ۵۹۷۱۴

ROME (Dispatches) -- A senior Iranian official says the renewal of U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic has "endangered” the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world countries.
"The new wave of anti-Iran sanctions by the U.S. puts pressure on efforts underway to implement commitments under the agreement,” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said here on Thursday.
"The consequences of the reinstatement of the sanctions on the part of the U.S. are worrisome,” he told the Vatican’s Foreign Minister Paul Richard Gallagher during a one-day visit to Italy.
The nuclear deal would offer the international community the guarantee that the Islamic Republic would stay committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), he said.
Araqchi said Washington’s withdrawal could bring about insecurity across the board because it undermines international relations.
The other parties to the agreement, namely Russia, China, the UK, France, and Germany, consider the new sanctions as "a heavy blow” to the NPT, he added.
The U.S., Araqchi said, has reneged on all its commitments under the nuclear deal and damaged its reputation on the international arena.
According to the official, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has verified Iran’s commitment to the nuclear deal after 13 rounds of inspections.
Gallagher said the Vatican has supported the nuclear agreement from the outset and considered it a "positive” development within the framework of regional peace, stability, and security.
The Vatican, he said, is officially opposed to the new U.S. sanctions and in step with other European countries to find mechanisms for bypassing them.
Gallagher asked Tehran to remain committed to the deal despite the sanctions.
Separately, Araqchi said the United States has turned its currency into a "weapon" and is using it to challenge the sovereignty of European nations.
"The dollar has become a weapon for the United Sates to force its illegitimate demands upon its European partners, practically challenging their national sovereignty," he told Vito Rosario Petrocelli, the head of the Italian Senate's Foreign Committee.
Araqchi reminded the Italian official that Iran had already fulfilled its commitments under the nuclear deal and it was the European Union’s "direct responsibility” to hold up its end of the bargain.
The senior Iranian diplomat also called on Europe to prevent the U.S. from using economic pressure as a weapon to establish a hegemony over the world.
Petrocelli hailed the nuclear deal with Iran as an important achievement for global stability and said Rome was set to support the agreement.
Araqchi also discussed the deal’s future with Marta Grande, the president of the Foreigner and European Affairs Committee of Italy's Chamber of Deputies.
Grande said Europe was "determined” to work with Iran and kept working to establish a financial channel that would facilitate transactions between their businesses.