Remaining Iran deal signatories to hold crisis talks

Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and Iran to convene June 28 in Vienna in bid to stem unraveling of 2015 accord, amid rising tensions between Tehran and Washington

By AFP 20 June 2019, 11:20 pm

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European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini (L); Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif (C) and political deputy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran Abbas Araghchi take part in a Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ministerial meeting on the Iran nuclear deal on July 6, 2018 in Vienna, Austria. (AFP/APA/Hans Punz)

BRUSSELS, Belgium — The remaining signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal will hold crisis talks in Vienna next week to discuss how to save the accord over a year after the US pulled out and amid rising tensions in the Persian Gulf between Tehran and Washington, the EU said Thursday.

Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and Iran will meet on June 28 as tensions in the Gulf soar after attacks on tankers and the shooting down of a US drone.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Thursday it brought down an unmanned American surveillance aircraft, prompting US President Donald Trump to warn it had made a “big mistake.”

The European Union announced the emergency convening of the multi-country commission that oversees the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the bloc’s 28 leaders met for a summit in Brussels.

In this photo released on June 14, 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani attend a meeting on the sideline of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

“The meeting has been called with the intention of ensuring the continued implementation of the JCPOA in all its aspects and discuss ways to tackle challenges arising from the withdrawal and re-imposition of sanctions by the United States on Iran, as well as recent announcements by Iran regarding the implementation of its nuclear commitments,” the bloc said in a statement.

On Monday, Tehran started a 10-day countdown to surpass an enriched uranium stockpile limit set by the deal, saying it would exceed the 300-kilogram (661 pound) restriction by June 27.

The Islamic republic said it would only pull back from the threat if other parties to the nuclear deal “live up to their commitments.”

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have escalated since Trump pulled out of the accord last year. The United States has since bolstered its military presence in the region and blacklisted Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

The crisis in the Gulf reached new heights on Thursday with the downing of the US drone, which Tehran says infringed its airspace but which the Pentagon insists was in international skies.