Nuclear pact: UK to work ‘flat out’ to prevent Iran’s nuclear plans, says Truss
Negotiations between global powers in Vienna today mark the “last opportunity” to breathe life back into the 2015 nuclear pact, the foreign secretary has warned.
Speaking at a press briefing earlier today, foreign secretary Liz Truss said that the UK will “work flat out to prevent the Iranian regime from gaining nuclear weapons” – with “all options” on the table for if discussions fail.
Israel’s prime minister Naftali Bennett yesterday voiced concerns that Iran will secure a relief in its various sanctions – but will fail to dial back on its nuclear projects.
The UK and Israel are also set to sign a “memorandum of understanding” today which looks to deepen ties on issues such as cybersecurity, defence and trade.
Truss and her Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid called the decade-long agreement a “major step forward”.
“This pact will spur technological breakthroughs which have the potential to change the world, create high-quality jobs in both our countries and provide tools to our security forces,” the joint statement said in The Daily Telegraph.
Sanctions
The US imposed a set of economic sanctions on Iran in 2017 in response to its own Iranian programme that has meant the country does not need to cap its bomb-making projects.
Since the US under the Trump administration pulled out of the deal in 2018, Iran has breached a number of its deal’s restrictions designed to stretch the ‘breakout time’ – the amount of time it would need to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb – from two to three months to around a year.
Iran has said it only wants to bolster its uranium for civil uses – but many suspect it is looking to get closer to producing a nuclear weapon.
Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that his country will only be in the Austrian capital to discuss the lifting of US sanctions, according to The Jerusalem Post.
“If the opposing sides are prepared to return to their full obligations and the lifting of sanctions, a good and even immediate agreement can be reached,” Amirabdollahian said.