Why it matters:
The statements by ambassador Peter Mandelson,In which he called for the dismantling of enrichment in Iran, come at a time when, in the past month, U.S. officials have also called for a halt to enrichment in Iran, an issue that Tehran has called its red line.
The big picture:
Iran is negotiating with the United States regarding its nuclear energy program, with the mediation of Oman. So far, five rounds of talks have been held between the Iranian Foreign Minister and the United States representative in Muscat and Rome, and differences still remain.
What he's saying:
"Iran has maintained multilateral engagement with the UK and other European JCPOA participants in good faith, even as the U.S. continues to show no interest in getting them involved in the ongoing negotiation process. If the UK position is ‘zero enrichment’ in Iran—in violation of the NPT and UK commitments as a remaining JCPOA participant—there is nothing left for us to discuss on the nuclear issue, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said.
What the ambassador is saying:
Lord Peter Mandelson, the British Ambassador to the United States, said in a question-and-answer session at the Atlantic Council think tank regarding Iran’s nuclear program: "Iran still retains enrichment facilities which can produce for military purposes a nuclear bomb. And we can't accept that. And so we in Britain strongly support the President's (Trump) initiative in negotiating away these enrichment and related facilities in Iran."
"We support what Steve Witkoff has been doing in his negotiations which are making some progress. Whether they will finally bring the Iranian regime to their senses and realize that they've got to find a way out of this or face a worse alternative — I don't know. It remains to be seen," the ambassador added.
"But we also have the snapback facility available to us in Europe — the E3, Britain, France, Germany — working very actively alongside the United States on this. The clock is ticking on snapback, which could produce a snapback to the original sanctions against Iran. They need to be mindful of that as well,” the diplomat warned.
Go deeper:
Iran Pushes Back on U.S. 'Zero Enrichment' Demand, Warns Against Diplomatic Bad Faith
Hossein Amiri
