Germany says Iran nuclear accord ‘not dead’

BERLIN

Amid last-ditch efforts to save the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Germany on Friday said the deal is “not dead.”

Speaking to media representatives in the capital Berlin, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr ​​​​​​​said: “From our point of view – and this is a position that we have taken since the beginning of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) – it is a meaningful contract that is to be preserved.”

The JCPOA refers to the 2015 nuclear agreement sealed in Vienna between the five world powers (the US, UK, Russia, China and France) plus Germany and Iran.

Adebahr said the Iran nuclear accord was “not dead” as the ongoing talks in Vienna between Iran and the four world powers still party to the deal were aimed “at trying to get all sides to return to this agreement.”

A US delegation is also in Vienna amid intense behind-the-scenes negotiations.

However, the team headed by the US Special Envoy on Iran Robert Malley did not participate in the meeting with other world powers, as Iran refuses to directly negotiate with Washington until sanctions imposed by former US President Donald Trump’s administration are lifted.