Rouhani in Europe, Zarif in Oman, as Iran intensifies diplomatic activities to preserve the JCPOA

Tabnak – As Iran and the EU countries are continuing their close contacts in order to preserve the nuclear deal, the Iranian president has started an official trip to Europe to hold talks on the future of Iran-EU ties. At the same time, Iran’s foreign minister is in Muscat for high-level talks with Omani officials.

According to a Press TV report, President Hassan Rouhani has begun a crucial visit to Europe, where he is expected to discuss the fate of a nuclear agreement from which US President Donald Trump withdrew in May.

Rouhani is to discuss boosting Tehran's ties with Europe which has been scrambling to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) but struggled to provide Iran with concrete guarantees to benefit from staying in the nuclear deal.

“Now that the Americans have exited the JCPOA in breach of international rules and their multi-lateral commitments, communication and negotiation with Europe enjoys a special position,” Rouhani told reporters in Tehran before heading to Switzerland.

From Switzerland, the Iranian president will travel to Austria where he will meet President Alexander Van der Bellen and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and oversee the signing of some documents for cooperation.

A key subject on the agenda, however, is a package which the Europeans are expected to offer to Iran in order to keep the country in the JCPOA. In this vein, Rouhani called the trip an opportunity to discuss the future of the JCPOA and bilateral agreements with EU members, especially given that Austria has just assumed rotating presidency of the European Union.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif held a meeting with his Omani counterpart for talks on various issues during a visit to Muscat. The top Iranian diplomat has travelled to Muscat for a round of political talks within the framework of regular consultations between the Islamic Republic and the Sultanate of Oman.

On Sunday, Zarif met with Oman's Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, discussing bilateral and regional issues. What makes the trip important is that over the past several years, Oman has in many cases acted as a diplomatic channel to facilitate contacts between Iran and the West, especially the US.

The United States withdrew from the nuclear agreement in May, declaring that it would be re-imposing the sanctions lifted by the agreement. Washington has also threatened countries retaining trade with Iran with “secondary sanctions.”

Following the US decision, the remaining parties of the nuclear deal started an intense process of political consultations in order to find a way for preserving the deal. In this vein, the EU is supposed to present a package to Iran on how to safeguard Iran’s economic interests despite the new wave of American sanctions.