The signatories to the Iran nuclear deal said Tuesday that they stood by the accord and China slammed US efforts to restore international sanctions on the Islamic republic and extend an arms embargo.

Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia are struggling to save the landmark 2015 accord with Iran since the United States pulled out of the deal in 2018.

EU senior official Helga Schmid, who chaired the talks in Vienna on Tuesday, wrote on Twitter that the meeting’s participants were “united in resolve to preserve the #IranDeal and find a way to ensure full implementation of the agreement despite current challenges”.

Representatives from Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran and Russia all attended the talks — part of a regular series of gatherings to discuss the accord, which have been increasingly tense since the US pullout began unravelling the agreement.

China’s representative, senior Foreign Ministry official Fu Cong, told reporters after the meeting that Iran needed to come back to full compliance, but at the same time “the economic benefit that is due to Iran needs to be provided”.

He slammed the US for “making a mockery of international law” in its “attempt to sabotage and to kill the JCPOA”, referring to the abbreviation of the deal’s formal name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

“The US is stopping at nothing in trying to sabotage other countries’ efforts to provide economic benefits to Iran,” he added.

The United Nations last week blocked the US bid to reimpose international sanctions on Iran, while Washington also failed to rally enough support to extend an arms embargo that was scheduled to start being rolled back from October.

Source: AFP