Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expects European nations to underwrite his country’s financial future and save the nuclear deal torn up by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“European nations are meant to present in coming days their suggested package to preserve the nuclear deal,” Rouhani said on Monday before leaving Tehran for official visits to Switzerland and Austria, according to the state-run Mehr news agency.
Rouhani stressed that Iran attaches great importance to deepening its relations with the European Union (EU) member countries, including Switzerland and Austria and said “tapping opportunities to develop relations with Bern and Vienna is one of the goals of this visit.”
Austria took over the rotating presidency of the EU on July 1.
As Breitbart Jerusalem reported, Rouhani wants Europeans to financially compensate Iran if they want to preserve the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that was originally drawn up by former president Barack Obama.
Rouhani’s website quoted him as saying: “We must not let this great achievement of diplomacy be destroyed by others’ unilateral actions, which are unfaithful to their promises.”
Iran has since warned it is ready to resume uranium enrichment to 20 percent “within days” if the deal falls apart and warned Europe that time was running out.
President Trump announced in May that his government was exiting the 2015 accord and would reimpose economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Trump warned at the time that other nations would face sanctions unless they stopped trading with Iran. Iran and the five remaining parties — including Germany, France and the U.K. — are running out of time to save the agreement.
Rouhani will visit Switzerland on July 2-3 and then head on July 4 to Vienna — home of the UN nuclear watchdog the IAEA which monitors Iran’s compliance with the accord.
Relations between Tehran and Bern, which represents Iran’s interests in the United States, have been deepening in recent years, and Rouhani will be welcomed with full military honours,.
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
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