By Shweta Desai
PARIS (AA) – France will host a joint meeting of top European and US officials on Thursday to discuss the Iran nuclear deal.
Heiko Maas and Dominic Raab, foreign ministers of Germany and the UK, will join Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s minister for Europe and foreign affairs, in Paris for the meeting, according to a statement by the French Foreign Ministry.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will participate via video link.
“The meeting will be devoted mainly to Iran and regional security in the Middle East, within the framework of their regular exchanges on these issues,” the statement said.
This is the second discussion on the Iran issue following the Feb. 5 talks between the three European powers and the US.
It comes just days ahead of the Feb. 21 deadline set by Iran’s parliament for the US to remove sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.
If Washington fails to undo the move, Iran has threatened to halt inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as agreed in the 2015 deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Tehran has said “it will resume full implementation of its commitments” once all signatories “fully comply with their obligations under JCPOA.”
In a rare phone call on Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the deal with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, raising “concern” over Tehran’s non-compliance and stressing “high interest” in preserving the pact.
According to a statement from Rouhani’s office, efforts to save the JCPOA lack legitimacy and credit if sanctions and other parties’ non-compliance with the commitments continue.
“The only way to maintain the deal is the lifting of inhumane, illegal US sanctions and the subsequent return of the country to the deal,” read the statement.
Rouhani said a law passed by Iran’s parliament makes it mandatory for the government to further reduce compliance if the other parties do not change tack.
“If the sanctions are lifted, we will completely fulfil our obligations stipulated in the JCPOA,” he asserted.
Earlier this month, the IAEA said Iran produced a small amount of uranium metal at a plant in Isfahan, violating the terms of the nuclear deal.
The agency’s chief is scheduled to visit Tehran on Feb. 20 to find a way to continue essential verification and monitoring activities in the country.