Tehran, Iran, July 24
By A. Shirazi - Trend:
Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said no specific date has been set for concluding talks with Europe on ways to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
“No single date has been set for conclusion of the talks, but the remaining parties to the deal, namely the Group 4+1 (Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany) are aware that there is not much time left as the first round of US sanctions goes into effect in August,” Qassemi told ILNA news agency on July 24.
He further expressed hope that Europe would finalize the talks soon and offer its practical proposals.
“We do not need statements and lip services. What we need today is a package that could provide guarantees,” the senior diplomat said.
Earlier, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the European Union has a time limit of 14 days to offer its package of “practical proposals” to save the deal, also known as JCPOA.
“There is a deadline for the EU to offer its practical proposals and the date is August 6,” Araqchi said.
“We are in talks with Europe to hammer out an executive mechanism for fulfilling EU’s commitments,” he said.
Last week, the bloc's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the 28 countries were doing all they could to save the deal, but conceded President Donald Trump's administration could still wreck it.
"Today, the [European] Council has endorsed the update of the blocking statute annex on the nuclear deal with Iran," Mogherini told reporters in Brussels at a meeting with EU foreign ministers.
She said the European Parliament gave its consent to the statute two weeks ago.
The blocking statute forbids EU firms from complying with US sanctions, allowing them to recover damages from such penalties and nullifying any foreign court rulings against them.
The EU vowed to fight to preserve the Iran nuclear deal after the US withdrawal, one of many points of US-European contention.
The blocking statute is due to enter force on August 6, when the first set of US sanctions are due. The second set is due November 4, just before US legislative elections.
The move came after the Trump administration rejected an EU call for an exemption from US sanctions on companies operating in Iran.