Rouhani in Vienna to shore up nuke deal, dogged by diplomat’s arrest

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday began the second leg of his European tour seeking assurances over the 2015 nuclear deal, a trip clouded by the arrest of a Tehran diplomat over an alleged bomb plot against opposition exiles in Paris.

Hoping to boost economic cooperation to help offset the return of US sanctions following Washington’s pullout from the historic deal, Rouhani arrived late yesterday in Vienna — the city where it was signed.  

Insofar as it is possible for Iran, we shall remain party to the accord, we shall not quit the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) on condition that we can also benefit from it,” Rouhani said.

 “If the other signatories, apart from the United States, can guarantee Iran’s interests then Iran will stay in the JCPOA,” he insisted.

US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the agreement nearly two months ago, to the ire of the other signatories — China, France, Germany, Britain and Russia — which along with the European Union have continued to back the accord.

“We need a balance between our duties and the hypothesis of restrictions ... We hope for decisive actions regarding trade and the economy,” added Rouhani in comments sending a message to the other deal signatories, whose foreign ministers are due to meet in Vienna on Friday for the first time since Trump’s decision to dump the deal.

Austria just took up the European Union’s six-month rotating presidency, while Vienna is the home of the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, which monitors Iran’s compliance with the accord.

New US sanctions against Tehran will encompass businesses from third countries that continue to operate in Iran. A number of foreign firms have already announced they would cease their Iranian activities in light of the looming imposition of sanctions.