Iran Daily - With only 12 days to May 12 deadline set by US President Donald Trump for Washington and Europe to address the issues he has with the Iran nuclear deal � also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) � major efforts have been undertaken by other signatories, particularly the European states, to the agreement to persuade the White House to refrain from withdrawing from the international treaty.


Since coming to power as the US president in January 2017, Trump has repeatedly described the JCPOA as �the worst deal ever,� urging the other parties to revise it, or he will scrap it.

This comes as more than two years have elapsed since the signing of the JCPOA by Iran and P5+1 in July 2015, and Iran has completely abided by the terms of the deal since its implementation began in January 2016.

Over the past few days, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Trump to persuade him not to ditch the deal, and similar efforts are being made to this end.

On Sunday, UK Minister of State for the Middle East at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Alistair Burt took a one-day trip to Iran to meet Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and hold talks on a number of issues, particularly those related to Trump�s upcoming decision.

Speaking to the Iran Daily, he touched upon a host of issues including London�s view about Tehran�s commitment to the JCPOA and his country�s efforts to persuade the White House to stay in the deal and its trade with the West Asian country.

Excerpts from the interview follow:

IRAN DAILY: How do you assess Iran�s commitment to the terms and conditions of the JCPOA?

ALISTAIR BURT: Iran has abided by the terms of the JCPOA. The UK believes that the agreement constitutes a very important part of the relationship between Iran, the region and the world. The agreement itself and adherence to it remain essential. It is the UK�s view that Iran has abided by the terms of the agreement. So we are working very hard to persuade all our partners to remain with the deal in the future. And then, that will also ensure that the other things we wished to talk about in relation to Iran�s relationship with the rest of the region, what happens next, remain open for talks and discussion in the future. But the JCPOA, we think, fulfills the purpose it was designed to achieve.

As you confirmed, Iran has always been, and still is, committed to the terms of the nuclear deal. However, the US has repeatedly announced that it will withdraw from the agreement in case the JCPOA does not undergo certain changes. What would be the reaction of Europe, particularly Britain, to the probable US withdrawal?

Firstly, the European partners and, to my understanding, all the other partners to the agreement are very determined that it should continue. We are continuing to work with our partners in the US to make sure that the deal is stuck to. Thus, we have not yet reached the situation where one or another party has decided to walk away from it. As the English idiom says �we will cross that bridge when we come to it�.

However, we remain of the view that the JCPOA is extremely important and we will be determined to adhere to it. We would hope that all parties would feel the same. Nevertheless, we are not foolish. We understand the position the US is in. So we are working with them to seek to persuade the US as we convince any party to the agreement that it is worth abiding by the terms and sticking to.

A few days ago, Macron and Merkel met with Trump and proposed a new deal that would complement the JCPOA. What is the UK stance?

What has been going on has been a process between the European partners to the JCPOA and the US to try and see if there is a way of dealing with Washington�s concerns that would not involve the JCPOA coming to an end. That is well-known and public. We have worked very hard with our partners as well as friends in the US to try and reach a common position whereby we can persuade Washington that its fears and concerns should not be expressed through walking away from the JCPOA. And we will continue that work.

As an important European signatory, what moves and measures has the UK made and employed to persuade Trump to refrain from pulling out of the deal?

Firstly, not everything is necessarily done in public through state and working visits as those we have seen. I can assure you and your readers that the UK system has been working very hard on exactly the terms that you have put to me. You are aware of the work that has been going on and what the E3 have been doing together. The UK has played a full part in relation to that. Officials and ministers have certainly made it very clear to the US administration why we consider the JCPOA to be so important and why it is essential that it remains abided by, by all parties, including Iran.

Will Europe continue with the deal in case the US withdraws from it?

We are very determined to keep the deal. We have not reached that stage yet. We believe the deal and its terms to be important both now and in the future. That is the UK�s view.

We hope the US will not withdraw from the deal, but we are very determined to stick to the agreement and to work with our partners to make sure that it stays in place. The JCPOA will remain very important to the UK. We sincerely hope that the US does not [withdraw from it]. We are working very hard to try and secure the situation that should be the case. That means working on the variety of the concerns that the US has expressed which we believe are important, but not necessarily a reason to change or to seek to renegotiate an agreement which has been made and agreed to by the other parties.

Iran has yet to gain the benefits it should have actually reaped from the JCPOA due to a number of problems. Does the UK have any solution to it?

We recognize the part of the JCPOA was to see an improvement in economic conditions and sanctions in relation to Iran. We remain of the belief that it is important for those provisions to be followed in exactly the same way as the rest of the JCPOA. But we certainly want to see the economy of Iran grow stronger and all the provisions of the JCPOA fulfilled. The UK wants to stand by all of them. We are aware of some of these difficulties and problems and we are seeking to do whatever we can to resolve them.

Would you please comment on Britain-Iran trade?

There is trade between the two countries. We have a thriving Iran-UK trade body. As you know colleagues have been here recently from it. We have colleagues in the Houses of Parliament to lead this. Norman Lamont, the former chancellor of the exchequer, has been instrumental in this. Lamont is currently the trade envoy of Prime Minister Theresa May for Iran.

There was also the visit of British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to Iran. This is the second time I have been in Tehran in just a few months. I took part in a conference in Paris about the banking and economic situation affecting Iran to put the case for continued support for reforms and changes in the financial system here. The UK took part quite deliberately to support and foster such arrangements. We hope for more and will continue to work. We think the trade between two nations and peoples is very important. The UK wants to see this grow and increase. We will continue to look for the opportunities to do so. Currently, trade between the UK and Iran stands at �500 million per annum. The value of the two countries� trade transactions has gone up 100 percent each year since the reopening of the British Embassy in Iran in August 2015.