Jens Ploetner, a political director in the Foreign Ministry of Germany, is in Tehran to meet Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as well as other officials to continue to respect the landmark nuclear deal, despite the unilateral withdrawal of the US.
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Britain, France and Germany, which signed the 2015 deal along with the United States, China and Russia, want to show they can compensate for last year's US withdrawal from the deal. Iran had given Europe and the other countries involved a 60-day ultimatum to stand up to US or they will uranium stockpile closer to weapons-grade levels. US had also deployed F-52 bombers at a military base in Qatar citing unspecified threats from Iran. Iran's Foreign Affairs Minister Javad Zarif said that this kind of provocation by US was unecessary.
Iran's decision to backtrack from some commitments in response to US moves threatens to unravel the deal. The ministry says there's a "window for diplomacy to persuade Iran to continue its full compliance" with the deal and warns "there's a real risk of escalation including due to misunderstandings or an incident." .
“After Iran's announcement to partly suspend its commitments under the JCPOA, there is a window of opportunity for diplomacy to persuade Iran to continue to fully comply with the JCPOA,” Ploetner said. Semi-official Iranian news agency Fars quoted a senior commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards as saying the US.-Iranian stand-off was a “clash of wills” and suggesting any enemy “adventurism” would meet a crushing response.
