Scottish Conservative MEP Struan Stevenson told a press conference in Brussels for his group Friends of Free Iran, which unites 300 MEPs: “The 5 +1 group (China, USA, France , UK , Russia and Germany), and especially the EU and the US, have made unacceptable concessions in negotiating the nuclear deal.
“Firmness against Tehran is the only way to ensure peace and tranquillity in this volatile region.”
The meeting was also attended by Maryam Rajavi, President of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, and the former President of the German Bundestag, Rita Süssmuth.
Mrs Rajavi said: “Reducing sanctions without the Iranian regime completely stopping the enrichment of uranium, without having accepted the Additional Protocol and unannounced visits to its sites, without the strict application of the resolutions of the Security Council UN would offer the country a devastating gift.
“This will only encourage the regime in its quest for the atomic bomb.
“The Geneva Accord is the direct result of international sanctions, especially at a time when the regime fears the resumption of the popular revolt as in 2009,” she said, urging the west not to lower its guard when dealing with Iran.
She added: “Does acceptance of this agreement means that the mullahs have stopped making a bomb? No, while this agreement is reversible, they keep the key to obtaining a bomb.”
The West and Israel suspect the Islamic Republic of wanting to develop nuclear weapons under cover of its civilian nuclear program, which Tehran strongly denies, the meeting was told.
In return for a partial suspension of sanctions, Tehran is committed to stop uranium enrichment above five per cent for six months, to suspend the construction of the heavy water reactor at Arak – which could produce plutonium required to manufacture a nuclear bomb – and to provide greater access for international inspectors to sensitive sites.
European foreign ministers are set to discuss a partial lifting of sanctions at their next meeting in Brussels on 16 December.