European foreign ministers on Wednesday urged Iran to resume nuclear talks, allow inspections of sensitive sites and curb its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, warning that sanctions suspended under the 2015 deal would be reimposed if Tehran fails to act in the coming days.
“Iran has yet to take the reasonable and precise actions necessary to reach an extension of resolution 2231,” the German Foreign Office said on social media after a call between the E3 – Britain, France and Germany – the EU’s foreign policy chief and Iran’s foreign minister.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed that the call was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon but warned that Tehran could take reciprocal measures if pressured.
“If other parties fail to fulfill their commitments or seek to pressure Iran through coercive means, naturally no one can claim that Iran must remain committed to the agreement,” he told reporters in Tehran.
Baghaei also rejected US criticism of Iran’s missile program, saying Washington had no authority to dictate the country’s defense policy. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to preserve its independence at any cost and firmly resist the excessive demands of foreign powers -- including the United States and Israel,” he said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in Jerusalem earlier this week alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Iran’s missile ambitions already threaten Persian Gulf states and Europe.
“A nuclear Iran governed by a radical Shia cleric that possesses not just nuclear weapons potentially, but the missiles that could deliver those weapons far away is an unacceptable risk,” Rubio said, vowing continued “maximum economic pressure” until Tehran changes course.
