SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The coming weeks are decisive for the future of the nuclear deal with Iran, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday, according to Reuters.
Speaking during a visit to Israel, the outgoing chancellor said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping also had a responsibility to help to push Iran back to the negotiating table, she said at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
She added that every day that passes without Tehran responding to U.S. overtures will result in Iran enriching more uranium.
“I also see a responsibility for Russia and China here, since if the JCPOA [nuclear deal] is no longer doing what it’s meant to do then that’s very difficult, so we are now in very decisive weeks for this deal.”
The talks, which aim to bring Washington and Tehran back into compliance with the 2015 nuclear pact aimed at curbing the Iranian enrichment programme, were adjourned in June after hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi was elected Iran’s president.
Speaking during a visit to Syria, Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian reiterated that Iran would “soon” return to the nuclear talks with world powers, which include indirect negotiations with the United States, Iranian state media reported.
Former president Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the nuclear pact in 2018 and reimposed sanctions that crippled Iran’s economy, prompting Tehran to breach some of the accord’s nuclear restrictions.
