Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said earlier this week that Iran was about to finalize to an oil sales agreement with the European Union despite the newly re-imposed sanctions by the United States. “Iran and the EU are on the brink of agreement, which, despite the return of unilateral American sanctions, will make Iranian oil sales possible,” he was quoted as saying. The announcement came after the EU and its leading economies – Britain, Germany and France – said that they were still “deeply convinced” that Tehran’s nuclear deal was important to the stability and security in the Middle East and reaffirmed their commitment to it.
The EU also commented that the nuclear deal was working well and delivering on its promise and that Iran was continuing to adhere to its stipulations. “We encourage all countries, including Russia and China as JCPOA participants, to make their best efforts to pursue the legitimate trade that the agreement allows for, through concrete steps,” the EU said in a statement. In the meantime, however, the White House has announced it would not grant any more waivers that have enabled some countries, most notably China and India, to keep buying oil from Iran despite the US sanctions.
If Tehran did not comply with the provisions of the nuclear deal, the EU itself would be forced to impose sanctions on Iran, a French source said. “We do not want Tehran to announce tomorrow actions that would violate the nuclear agreement, because in this case we Europeans would be obliged to re-impose sanctions as per the terms of the agreement,” the source explained. “We don’t want that and we hope that the Iranians will not make this decision.”
