In the tug-of-war over the rescue of the nuclear agreement, Iran is making further negotiations for billions in European financial aid. The recent negotiations in Paris, a credit line in the amount of about 15 billion US dollars (13.7 billion euros) had been promised, said Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to the Iranian news agency Isna on Wednesday. Only when this has been paid, Iran will continue negotiations. At the same time, President Hassan Rohani announced in Tehran another partial phase-out of his country from the agreement on Friday.
Rohani assured, however, that the parties to the nuclear agreement would have two months to properly implement the atomic deal. In that case, Iran will also comply with the nuclear agreement again, Rohani stressed. This demand amounts to a lifting of the US sanctions, which rejects US President Donald Trump. Instead, Trump relented on Wednesday, ordering further sanctions on the Iranian oil sector.
According to the Isna agency, the credit demanded by Iran should serve as a form of compensation for the US economic sanctions. Because of the US sanctions, Iran is in an acute economic crisis, also because oil exports are the main source of income of the theocracy.
The background to the conflict over the international agreement to prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb is primarily US policy. Trump had single-handedly stepped out of the agreement in 2018. He wants to force Iran with maximum pressure to negotiate a new nuclear agreement with stricter conditions. In addition, a new agreement is also to be extended to the country's missile program. The leadership in Tehran rejects all this. The US government is also calling for Iran to change course in its perceived aggressive foreign policy. Tehran reacted last with a higher uranium enrichment. In addition, the country threatens to interfere with the shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran does not want to guarantee shipping safety
Germany, France and the UK consider the US course wrong and are working together with the other EU member states, as well as China and Russia, to preserve the nuclear agreement. It is all about securing Iran the economic benefits promised to it by the agreement for restricting its nuclear program. French President Emmanuel Macron launched a new diplomatic initiative at the G7 summit in Biarritz at the end of August.
In addition, Iran refuses to go for the loan on political demands that have nothing directly to do with the nuclear program. Among other things, Europeans are expected to demand guarantees on the safety of navigation in the Persian Gulf, as well as the end of the Iranian missile program and an end to Iranian cooperation with anti-Israeli militias such as Hezbollah in Lebanon. There was a clear no thanks from Araghchi. "We will not negotiate with anyone about our red lines," he said.
Meanwhile, the case of the British oil tanker Stena Impero, which has been confiscated in Iran since July, has begun to move. Tehran confirmed the release of seven of the 23 crew members for humanitarian reasons.
France sees itself as a mediator in the dangerous Iran conflict, talking to all involved and looking for compromises. Macron had promised in Biarritz a top meeting between Trump and Iran's President Hassan Rohani.