European Union representative Helga Schmidt, deputy ministers and political directors of the Foreign Ministries of Iran, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, China and Russia reiterated their intention to preserve the deal sealed in 2015.
All of them agreed that Washington lacks the legal basis to request sanctions’ reactivation against Tehran after withdrawing in May 2018, at the behest of US President Donald Trump.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that a way is being sought to use the so-called Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), through which the Islamic Republic will relieve itself of unilateral US sanctions.
According to Araqchi’s opinion, Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), confirmed that Iran aspires to open a new stage of collaboration and resolve possible disputes.
The meeting in Vienna, first in five months, coincides with a campaign of maximum pressure by the United States against Iran, ranging from filing a motion at the UN Security Council to extend an arms embargo, to sending a letter to that body to reactivate international sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
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