Vienna is 'last chance' to save nuclear accord

Teheran, landmark deal partners to meet as Persian Gulf tensions simmer

LONDON/VIENNA－Iran has said Friday's meeting in Vienna between the remaining signatories of a landmark nuclear deal was the "last chance" to save the accord, after the US withdrawal and warned Teheran would not accept "artificial" solutions to US sanctions.

As tensions in the Persian Gulf simmer, Iran is threatening to exceed the maximum amount of enriched uranium allowed it by the deal, in retaliation for crippling US economic sanctions imposed in the past year.

It is just days away from that limit, diplomats say, and going over it could unravel the accord.

Iran is insisting that it wants to save the agreement and has urged Europeans to start buying Iranian oil or give Iran a credit line.

The 2015 agreement aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. The United States withdrew from the accord last year and has imposed new sanctions on Iran to cripple its economy.

Senior officials from Iran and the deal's remaining parties, France, Germany, Britain, Russia, China and the European Union, were scheduled to meet with the aim of saving the pact. But with European powers limited in their ability to shield Iran's economy from US sanctions, it is unclear what they can do to provide the large economic windfall Teheran wants.

On Friday, Iran's Fars news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying: "I think this meeting can be the last chance for the remaining parties ... to gather and see how they can meet their commitments toward Iran."

Mousavi said that despite supporting Iran's stance in several statements, the remaining signatories had failed to take any action.

Fars also quoted Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who is in Vienna, as saying Iran had run out of "strategic patience", and adding, "Iran will not tolerate remaining unilaterally committed to the nuclear deal."

He said he hoped the Vienna meeting could lead to "tangible" action, the agency said.

Britain, France and Germany are finalizing a complicated barter-type system known as INSTEX to maintain trade with Iran and avoid US sanctions, as part of efforts to keep the nuclear deal afloat.

"We should see how much money can be transferred via INSTEX," Mousavi said. "If it's an artificial mechanism, Iran will surely not accept it."

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday he would try to convince US President Donald Trump to suspend some sanctions on Iran to allow for negotiations to help defuse the crisis.

However, Trump said on Friday that there is "no rush" to resolve tensions with Iran that have raised fears of a military conflict.

"We have a lot of time. There's no rush, they can take their time. There is absolutely no time pressure," he said in Osaka, where world leaders are meeting for the G20 summit.

"Hopefully in the end it's going to work out. If it does, great, if it doesn't, you'll be hearing about it."

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is appealing for a de-escalation of tensions in the Gulf and the preservation of the nuclear deal with Iran.

He told reporters on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan on Friday that the deal was a factor of stability and that "it will be very important to preserve it".

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