Iran says nuclear deal talks with EU 'constructive'

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that he had a "good and constructive" meeting with the EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini over the survival of 2015 nuclear deal.

"We have started working to reach the guarantees," Xinhua cited Tasnim news agency quoting Zarif as saying who referred to Iran's demand that the remaining parties to Iran's nuclear deal or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) should ensure Tehran's interests will be protected.

"It was a good and constructive meeting," he said, adding that "we are on the right track ... to make sure that the interests of the remaining signatories of the JCPOA, especially Iran, will be guaranteed."

Zarif is in Brussels on the final leg of a diplomatic tour to save the 2015 nuclear deal after the recent US withdrawal from the pact. The tour has already taken him to Beijing and Moscow.

Last week, US President Donald Trump said that the US would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, a landmark agreement signed in 2015.

Trump added that he will not sign the waiver of nuke-related sanctions against Iran.

Accordingly, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said that Iran would remain in the international nuclear deal in case the country's interests are secured by other parties to the agreement.

"If the remaining five countries in the deal live up to their commitments and guarantee Iran's interests, the agreement will survive," he said on Sunday during a meeting with visiting Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena.

--IANS

sku/