By Staff Writer
The Iranian Regime’s mission left Vienna empty-handed on Friday after meeting with European leaders over the future of the 2015 nuclear deal.
The joint statement released afterwards presents nothing new in relation to the nuclear deal, otherwise known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and Iranian regime’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif didn’t even show up to the press conference.
This shows us that the Iranian Regime is now facing an uphill battle when trying to get concessions from Europe, without offering anything in return.
Before the Vienna meeting of foreign ministers from the United Kingdom, China, France, Germany and Russia – the other signatories to the deal – French Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian issued a stark warning to Tehran over its threats to violate its nuclear deal commitments, which he said were preventing Europe from finding a solution.
He also said that he doubted that any economic package can be given to Iran before US sanctions are reimposed in November, a result of Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the nuclear deal in May.
So, how do we know that the meeting, chaired by European Union foreign policy chief Frederica Mogherini, wasn’t great for Iran when the issues discussed are still under wraps? From the behaviour of the participants.
Zarif didn’t even show up to the press conference, while Mogherini would only read a prepared statement about commitment over economic issues and refused to answer questions.
Also, despite the warning from Le Drian, Zarif chose to make another threat at the end of the meeting – probably because he felt that the meeting was going nowhere.
He said: “Up to now no one has been able to resolve the U.S. exiting the JCPOA and this issue remains unsettled. Therefore, we have the right to take action.”
However, he then backtracked on this to call the European package “practical” and pledged Iran’s loyalty to their commitments; a complete turnabout from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s previous description of it as “disappointing”. This shows that Iran recognises how the tides have turned against them since the US withdrawal.
All parties present were acting in their own country’s interests, which for most means siding with the US over Iran in order to maintain financial and trading ties with the biggest economy in the world.
Human write activist Heshmat Alavi wrote: “The Europeans are understanding how serious Washington is in its intention of escalating this economic war against the Iranian regime, especially with the objective of zeroing Tehran’s oil exports… The road ahead will only become steeper for Tehran and domestically, the Iranian people will most definitely increase their demands and nationwide protests for democratic regime change.”