TEHRAN: Iran on Monday called on European countries to guarantee an existing nuclear deal that the parties are set to revisit during a planned resumption of talks in Vienna.
“The European capitals, including Berlin, have been passive spectators,” foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters.
“We therefore expect all parties, when they arrive in Vienna, to know that they have no choice but to adhere to their obligations under the nuclear deal,” he said during his weekly news conference.
“They must give their clear assurance to the Islamic republic that this time, no party will violate the nuclear deal,” he continued.
The deal was concluded in 2015 with the US, UK, China, Russia, France and Germany and it offered Iran relief from international sanctions in exchange for drastically limiting its nuclear program, while also placing it under UN supervision.
But the US unilaterally pulled out of the deal under Donald Trump and reimposed sanctions, prompting Tehran to gradually renege on its commitments.
Talks got underway in Vienna in April to revive the deal, but have been suspended since June, when Iran elected ultra-conservative Ebrahim Raisi as president, but Tehran said last week it expects talks to resume within days.
Khatibzadeh said German Chancellor “Angela Merkel and the European countries know that without Europe’s inaction, Trump would not have dared to withdraw from all the agreements or to violate the nuclear deal.”
During a visit to Israel, Merkel on Sunday called on Iran to immediately return to the talks.
“The message to Iran is unequivocal: return to the negotiating table immediately,” she said.
“There is no new text or deal being negotiated. It is simply a matter of technical talks to ensure the full implementation of the nuclear deal by all parties,” Khatibzadeh told reporters.
“The Vienna talks, I repeat, will take place and in the next days you will see more activity and diplomatic exchange around the nuclear deal,” he said.
Iran: Europe must guarantee nuclear deal will be upheld
https://arab.news/4tvkc
Iran: Europe must guarantee nuclear deal will be upheld
- ‘The European capitals, including Berlin, have been passive spectators’
- Nuclear deal was concluded in 2015 with the US, UK, China, Russia, France and Germany
US makes plans to reopen embassy in Syria after 14 years
- The administration has been considering re-opening the embassy since last year
- Trump told reporters on Friday that Al-Sharaa was “doing a phenomenal job” as president
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has informed Congress that it intends to proceed with planning for a potential re-opening of the US Embassy in Damascus, Syria, which was shuttered in 2012 during the country’s civil war.
A notice to congressional committees earlier this month, which was obtained by The Associated Press, informed lawmakers of the State Department’s “intent to implement a phased approach to potentially resume embassy operations in Syria.”
The Feb. 10 notification said that spending on the plans would begin in 15 days, or next week, although there was no timeline offered for when they would be complete or when US personnel might return to Damascus on a full-time basis.
The administration has been considering re-opening the embassy since last year, shortly after longtime strongman Bashar Assad was ousted in December 2024, and it has been a priority for President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack.
Barrack has pushed for a deep rapprochement with Syria and its new leadership under former rebel Ahmad Al-Sharaa and has successfully advocated for the lifting of US sanctions and a reintegration of Syria into the regional and international communities.
Trump told reporters on Friday that Al-Sharaa was “doing a phenomenal job” as president. “He’s a rough guy. He’s not a choir boy. A choir boy couldn’t do it,” Trump said. “But Syria’s coming together.”
Last May, Barrack visited Damascus and raised the US flag at the embassy compound, although the embassy was not yet re-opened.
The same day the congressional notification was sent, Barrack lauded Syria’s decision to participate in the coalition that is combating the Daesh militant group, even as the US military has withdrawn from a small, but important, base in the southeast and there remain significant issues between the government and the Kurdish minority.
“Regional solutions, shared responsibility. Syria’s participation in the D-Daesh Coalition meeting in Riyadh marks a new chapter in collective security,” Barrack said.
The embassy re-opening plans are classified and the State Department declined to comment on details beyond confirming that the congressional notification was sent.
However, the department has taken a similar “phased” approach in its plans to re-open the US Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela, following the US military operation that ousted former President Nicolás Maduro in January, with the deployment of temporary staffers who would live in and work out of interim facilities.
