DUBAI: Iran said on Monday that it had not closed the “door to negotiations” in efforts to resolve a dispute over its nuclear agreement with world powers that has escalated steadily since the United States withdrew from the deal in 2018.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said any further move by Tehran to scale back its commitments to the deal would depend on actions by other parties, after European states triggered a mechanism that could lead to the reimposition of UN sanctions.
Iran has gradually stepped back from its obligations to the 2015 deal, under which Tehran secured sanctions relief in return for limiting its nuclear work, after Washington quit the agreement and then imposed stringent U.S. sanctions.
Britain, France and Germany, also signatories to the pact, triggered a dispute mechanism this month, citing Iranian violations. This starts a diplomatic process that could lead to U.N. sanctions being reimposed.
“Tehran still remains in the deal ... The European powers’ claims about Iran violating the deal are unfounded,” Mousavi told a weekly news conference in Tehran, saying that the “door to negotiations” had not been closed.
“Whether Iran will further decrease its nuclear commitments will depend on other parties and whether Iran’s interests are secured under the deal,” Mousavi said.
US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal and began a policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran, saying he wanted a new deal that would cover nuclear issues, Iran’s ballistic missile programme and Iranian activities in the Middle East.
Britain has said a “Trump deal” could replace the 2015 agreement and France has called for broad talks to end a crisis with the United States, which briefly erupted into tit-for-tat U.S.-Iranian military action this month.
Mousavi repeated Iran’s rejection of a “Trump deal.” Iranian officials have said Trump could not be trusted, so such deal would not have any value.
Iran has not ruled out talks to end nuclear dispute
https://arab.news/r9yrj
Iran has not ruled out talks to end nuclear dispute
- Iran has gradually stepped back from its obligations to the 2015 deal
- US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal earlier
Israel orders removal of electricity network, destroys Palestinian houses in West Bank
- The notice demonstrates Israel’s continued efforts to tighten its control over the residents of Idhna, the mayor said
- Israeli forces demolished two homes belonging to the Qabha family in the Khor Al-Dabaa neighborhood of Bartaa in Jenin
LONDON: Israeli authorities informed Palestinian residents of Idhna village, located west of Hebron, about a plan to remove the electricity network in the area as the Israeli government intends to strengthen control in the occupied West Bank.
Jaber Tmaizi, the mayor of Idhna, said that Israeli troops issued a notice demanding the removal of an electricity network that supplies Bir Al-Balouta area, located west of the town.
He added that this notice demonstrates Israel’s continued efforts to tighten its control over the residents of Idhna, aiming to displace them closer to the separation wall to expand the Adora settlement nearby.
On Tuesday, the Energy Minister Eli Cohen said that recent measures adopted by the government that deepen Israeli control in the occupied West Bank amounted to implementing “de facto sovereignty.”
Cohen said that steps “actually establish a fact on the ground that there will not be a Palestinian state.”
Palestinians, Arab countries, and human rights groups have described the moves announced on Sunday as an annexation of the territory, which is home to approximately 3.4 million Palestinians who aspire to use it for a future state.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces demolished two homes belonging to the Qabha family in the Khor Al-Dabaa neighborhood of Bartaa, which is located in Jenin in the northern West Bank. The demolition was carried out under the pretext that the houses were built without the necessary construction permits.
Earlier this year, Israeli forces also demolished four homes in Bartaa, again citing the absence of permits as the reason for the demolitions.
