Sources familiar with the talks said that Among the ways to To address this issue, the United States and the three European countries should define the foundations of a purely civilian nuclear program and threaten consequences if Iran goes beyond those foundations..
This will preserve the agreement but will in fact lead to additional restrictions on Tehran.
In Geneva, Christopher Ford, a US nonproliferation official, outlined such an approach, without providing any details..
“We do not aim to renegotiate the nuclear deal, reopen or change its terms,” he told reporters. Additional regulations“.
Richard Nephew, a former White House expert on sanctions on Iran, said there are differences among Europeans on this matter.
“What I’ve heard is that the French are less objectionable to this way of thinking than the Germans. It doesn’t mean that they are necessarily excited about it, but they see the value that the Germans don’t,” he added.“.
In Berlin, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Rainer Bruel said that Germany would carefully study the idea of a supplementary agreement, but refused to change the agreement.
“For us, the priority is to preserve and fully implement the nuclear agreement by all parties. The nuclear deal was negotiated with seven countries and the European Union and cannot be renegotiated or replaced,” he said. on a whim“.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold talks with Trump in Washington on Friday.
The Iranian president had previously said that foreign powers had no right to change the agreement. He wondered whether Trump was qualified to question such a complex international agreement.
“They say we want to take a decision with the leader of a certain European country on an agreement that includes seven parties. Why? And by what right?” Rouhani said.
Rouhani mocked Trump, who told European powers on January 12 that they should agree to “fix the horrific flaws in the agreement” or he would refuse to extend the suspension of US sanctions against Iran. It is scheduled to resume these sanctions if Trump does not issue a decision to suspend them on May 12.
Addressing Trump, Rouhani said, “You have no background in politics. You have no background in law. You have no background in international treaties. How can a merchant and contractor make judgments about international affairs?”“.
