Iran announces talks with remaining signatories to nuclear deal

State media says foreign ministers set to discuss EU ‘incentive package’ meant to keep Tehran in accord

TEHRAN, Iran — The foreign ministers of Iran and the five world powers still party to the 2015 nuclear deal will meet in Vienna on Friday for talks on the troubled accord, state media in Tehran said.

The top diplomats of Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia will join Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the Austrian capital, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported, for their first talks together on the deal since Washington pulled out earlier this year.

During the meeting the ministers will discuss an “incentive package” the European Union is offering to try to persuade Iran to stay in the agreement, IRNA reported.

The meeting will seek “solutions to preserve the Iran nuclear deal after the illegal US action to withdraw,” it said.

The announcement came with President Hassan Rouhani in Europe to rally support for the deal.

Swiss Federal President Alain Berset (R) and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani pose for a picture at the beginning of a meeting during Rouhani’s official visit in Bern, on July 2, 2018 (AFP Photo/Pool/Peter Klaunzer)

Rouhani, accompanied by Zarif, was in Switzerland on Tuesday and due to head on Wednesday to Vienna, where the accord was signed in 2015.

US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the agreement two months ago, to the ire of the other signatories which along with the European Union have continued to back the accord.

Trump said the “defective” deal did not sufficiently curb Iran’s nuclear program nor address its ballistic missile development and support for regional terror groups.

Iran has warned it is ready to resume uranium enrichment to 20 percent — above the level permitted in the deal — “within days” if the agreement falls apart.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.