Europe must 'pay price' to save nuke deal
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said yesterday that Europe had not yet shown it was willing to "pay the price" of defying Washington in order to save the nuclear deal.
Zarif said European governments had put forward proposals to maintain oil and banking ties with Iran after the second phase of US sanctions return in November.
But he told Iran's Young Journalist Club website that these measures were more "a statement of their position than practical measures".
"Although they have moved forward, we believe that Europe is not yet ready to pay the price (of truly defying the US)," Zarif said.
US President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal in May, and began re-imposing sanctions earlier this month that block other countries from trading with Iran, reported AFP.
Europe has vowed to keep providing Iran with the economic benefits it received from the nuclear deal, but many of its bigger companies have already pulled out of the country for fear of US penalties.
The Iranian minister also said yesterday that a new Iran Action Group in the US State Department aimed to overthrow the Islamic Republic, but would fail, reported Reuters.
Zarif tweeted: "65 years ago today, the US overthrew the popularly elected democratic government of Dr. Mossadegh, restoring the dictatorship & subjugating Iranians for the next 25 years. Now an “Action Group” dreams of doing the same through pressure, misinformation & demagoguery. Never again."
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