Iran may withdraw from the nuclear deal in a matter of weeks – officials

Tabnak – Over a month after US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran, the European parties of the deal have yet to find a way to keep it from total collapse. Meanwhile, Iran warns that it cannot wait forever for the Europeans while its interests are not preserved by the current deal.

In this vein, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi says given the vague prospect of the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), there is a possibility that Tehran leaves the accord in coming weeks.

“I cannot say that the prospect of the continuation of negotiations with Europe is clear and can lead us to achieve a joint package for saving the JCPOA,” Araqchi was quoted as saying by the Persian-language website of euronews.

Iran’s patience has come to an end and it is probable that Iran will withdraw from the JCPOA in the coming weeks, he noted. Tehran was negotiating with the other signatories "to see if they can provide us with a package which can give Iran the benefits of sanctions lifting", the diplomat said.

"The next step is to find guarantees for that package," he said, adding that Iran needed specifics on how that would happen by the end of May.

"I told the conference today that the JCPOA is in the intensive care unit because it has lost its balance as a result of US withdrawal from the deal," Araqchi said, referring to a meeting between the remaining signatories of the JCPOA in Vienna on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Iran's nuclear chief says the Middle East and the entire world will face a "dreadful" future if a 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement Tehran signed with the P5+1 group of countries falls apart.

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi made the remarks on Friday in an address to an expert panel held on the sidelines of the Oslo Forum in the presence of Norwegian and Omani foreign ministers.

He said the international community showed a severe reaction to the United States' "unwise and baseless" decisions, including its move to withdraw from the nuclear agreement.

"If the European Union and other countries supporting the JCPOA do not demonstrate their practical opposition to the US policies in due time, they will face a dreadful future and unprecedented insecurity in the region and the world because of the JCPOA's collapse," AEOI chief said.

On May 8, the US president pulled his country out of the JCPOA, which was achieved in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany). Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.