French President Emmanuel Macron's top diplomatic advisor met with Iran's president Wednesday winding up a day of talks in Tehran aimed at saving a landmark 2015 nuclear deal and easing tensions between Tehran and Washington.
But as Emmanuel Bonne pressed the high-level talks, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to warn that US sanctions against Iran would soon be "increased substantially", charging Tehran had "long been secretly 'enriching'" uranium.
The 2015 accord between Iran and world powers, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), promised sanctions relief, economic benefits and an end to international isolation in return for stringent curbs on the Islamic republic's nuclear programme.
But Tehran says it has lost patience with perceived inaction by European countries more than a year after Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the agreement and started to impose punishing sanctions.
In his meeting with Bonne, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran had "completely kept the path of diplomacy and talks open", according to a statement from his office.
He called on other parties to the deal to "completely implement their commitments" to keep it alive.
Bonne also met Rear-Admiral Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his deputy Abbas Araghchi.
His mission was "to try and open the discussion space to avoid an uncontrolled escalation, or even an accident", according to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Before meeting with Bonne, Zarif said "negotiations are never possible under pressure", in reference to US sanctions against Iran.
Pointing to the US withdrawal from the JCPOA, he added that the Europeans "must solve that problem."
- 'Nuclear extortion' -
Bonne arrived in Tehran after Iran announced on Monday it had surpassed 4.5 percent uranium enrichment -- above the 3.67 percent limit under the accord, though still far below the 90 percent necessary for military purposes.
Earlier this month, it was confirmed that Iran surpassed 300 kilogrammes of enriched uranium reserves, another limit that was imposed by the deal.
At Washington's request, the UN's nuclear watchdog held a special meeting Wednesday at its Vienna headquarters.
US delegate Jackie Wolcott told the gathering that Iran was engaged in "nuclear extortion".
Her Iranian counterpart Kazem Gharib Abadi hit back, calling it a "sad irony" that the meeting was convened at Washington's request and claiming the current standoff was a result of the US's "outlaw behaviour".
Russia's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mikhail Ulyanov, later tweeted that the US "was practically isolated on this issue".
In a joint statement, European parties to the deal Germany, France and Britain said their continued support for the accord "relies on Iran implementing its commitments".
But they added the "issues at hand should be addressed by participants to the JCPOA".
Ahead of the meeting, a source at the French presidency said "we are in a very critical phase. The Iranians are taking measures that are in violation (of the agreement) but (they) are very calibrated".
- Iran ends 'strategic patience' -
After Washington withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018, it reimposed stinging sanctions on Tehran, hitting the banking and oil sectors hard.
As the Iranian economy went into free fall, Iran demanded that the other parties -- especially the Europeans -- deliver promised economic benefits and help it bypass the US sanctions.
However, it became clear that this was no simple task, and Iran -- whose economy depends heavily on oil exports -- changed tack and indicated it would reshape its policy of "strategic patience".
In May, a year after Trump's withdrawal, Rouhani said Iran would roll back its commitments under the deal in stages every 60 days in an effort to force the other parties to deliver on their side of the bargain.
As tensions rose, the US dispatched a naval carrier, bombers and extra troops to the region to counter perceived threats from Iran.
Last month, Trump said he had called off a retaliatory military strike against Iran at the last minute after the Islamic republic shot down a US drone that it said had crossed into its airspace, a claim denied by Washington.
Trump re-upped the pressure Wednesday, claiming "Iran has long been secretly 'enriching'" uranium in violation of the accord.
"Remember, that deal was to expire in a short number of years. Sanctions will soon be increased, substantially!"
As standoff deepens, US tries coalition-building on Iran
Washington (AFP) July 10, 2019 - In seeking a coalition at sea to monitor Iran, the United States is hoping to present a united front at a time when its hawkish policy has aggravated tensions and key allies are at loggerheads.
General Joseph Dunford, the top US military officer, said the United States would take the commanding role and provide surveillance as other countries escort vessels under their own flags.
"I think probably over the next couple weeks we'll identify which nations have the political will to support that initiative and then we'll work directly with the militaries to identify the specific capabilities that'll support that," Dunford said Tuesday.
He said the coalition would operate both in the Strait of Hormuz -- the chokepoint to the Gulf through which 20 percent of the world's oil flows -- and the Bab el-Mandeb, the crucial shipping line into the Red Sea off war-battered Yemen.
The budding coalition comes as tensions soar with Iran, which shot down a US spy drone and has been blamed by Washington for a series of sabotage attacks on oil tankers.
Many observers see Iran as trying to extract a price on President Donald Trump's administration, which imposed crippling sanctions and has tried to stop all of Tehran's oil sales in hopes of weakening the clerical regime.
Trump, who exited a nuclear accord with Iran negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama, on Wednesday vowed to keep ramping up sanctions -- but he also has indicated he does not want war, calling off a planned strike last month at the 11th hour.
In a familiar priority for Trump, he has accused other nations of not paying enough for their own ships' security -- a point stressed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as he visited allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates last month.
- Fostering Gulf unity? -
Dunford's remarks came on the day that the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, met Trump at the White House.
Qatar, which is home to some 10,000 US troops but has comparatively cordial relations with Iran, has been under a Saudi-led embargo for two years, a massive rift in the Gulf Cooperation Council of oil-rich, US-friendly Arab monarchies.
Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said that the coalition initiative could serve to "end the intra-GCC conflict through the backdoor," although he said that would be a longer-term calculation.
"There are good reasons why the US wants others to do a lot more to protect the flow of energy and trade from the Persian Gulf," he said.
"Is it going to change the big-picture dynamics in the sense of the US-Iran standoff? That's where I'm more skeptical," he said.
He said Iran was trying to impose counter-pressure against the United States and "create a bit of panic in the head of President Trump" by destabilizing the oil market.
"I'm not sure that this is going to in itself deter the Iranians from being in the path they are in," he said.
- European skepticism -
Mark Esper, the acting defense secretary, said on a recent visit to NATO's headquarters that "a few" allies had privately expressed interest in the coalition.
But European leaders have been widely skeptical of Trump's policy on Iran and still support the 2015 nuclear deal.
In a potential omen for Washington, Spain in May recalled a frigate accompanying a US aircraft carrier heading to the Middle East, saying it wanted to steer clear of any potential "warlike action."
It is not the first time the United States has worked to escort oil in the Gulf. During the Iran-Iraq War, Washington protected Kuwaiti ships that were given the US flag.
The USS Vincennes, deployed for the operation, in 1988 shot down a civilian Iran Air flight, killing 290 people in an incident for which Washington has never apologized.
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Iran passes uranium enrichment cap set by endangered deal
Tehran (AFP) July 8, 2019
Iran on Monday breached a uranium enrichment cap set by a troubled 2015 nuclear deal and warned Europe against taking retaliatory measures, as France decided to send an envoy to Tehran to try to calm tensions. The move came more than a year after Washington pulled out of the landmark accord between world powers and Tehran, which says it has lost patience with perceived inaction by the remaining European partners. After Tehran's latest step, US President Donald Trump held talks with his French co ... read more
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