Iran accuses US of nuclear deal ‘sabotage’

VIENNA: Iran on Friday vented its frustration over fresh US sanctions which it says “violate” the terms of a 2015 landmark nuclear deal, at a meeting with major world powers in Vienna.

“We talked in detail about the sanctions and instances that the Americans had delayed in fulfilling their commitments, the instances where they violated the deal,” Tehran’s lead nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi told reporters after the meeting.

He said the United States “showed bad will by trying to sabotage the situation, to threaten or scare off foreign companies to invest in Iran”. The regular quarterly meeting heard, as Washington already confirmed earlier this week, that Iran is sticking to its side of the pact with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

The so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) saw Tehran scale back production of nuke-making material in return for massive sanctions relief. But the deal has not eased tensions between Tehran and Washington, which continue to clash over conflicts in Syria and Yemen, where Iran-backed militia hold clout.

US President Donald Trump has been a virulent critic of the nuclear accord signed under
his predecessor Barack Obama, calling it “the worst deal ever”.

Although Trump has yet to make good on his campaign promise to rip up the agreement, his administration on Tuesday announced a fresh round of non-nuclear sanctions over Iran’s ballistic missile programme.

The move came hours after the White House admitted the Islamic republic was complying with the nuclear accord. Iran responded with its own sanctions and accused the US of trying to “poison the international atmosphere”.