Iran nuclear deal at risk as EU support 'not sufficient'

The EU must work harder to preserve its oil trade with Iran following the United States' withdrawal from 2015 international nuclear pact, Iran’s foreign minister told the EU’s energy chief on Sunday.

Miguel Arias Canete, European Commissioner for energy and climate, said the Iranian government want the EU to consider making direct euro-denominated payments for Iranian oil to Iran’s central bank with a view to avoiding the US financial system altogether.

According to Iran’s state news agency IRNA, foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Arias Canete: "With the withdrawal of America [...] the European political support for the accord is not sufficient."

The terms of the deal saw Iran agreeing to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of most Western sanctions.

EU leaders have been coming to terms with the difficult task of ensuring sufficient investment and diplomacy to keep the agreement viable and in place but several large European companies last week suggested their activities in Iran would end or be curtailed because the US stance on the nation.

"We have to preserve this agreement so we don’t have to negotiate a new agreement," Arias Canete told journalists after two days of meetings with Iranian officials in Tehran. "Our message is very clear. This is a nuclear agreement that works."

President Trump, however, has been vociferous in his criticism of the accords and pulled the United States out of the deal on 8 May despite huge international pressure to remain.

The Trump administration is now expected to impose sanctions after the expiry of 90 and 180 day wind-down periods, including sanctions aimed at Iran’s oil sector and transactions with the country’s central bank.