In the meeting which took place on Tuesday, in addition to the JCPOA, Salehi and Mogherini discussed the US sanctions against Iran, including the ones imposed on Iran's nuclear safety center and a company that produces radiopharmaceuticals.
Meanwhile, the Iranian nulcear chief told Reuters that he had warned the European Union’s top diplomat that Iranian patience was running out on the bloc’s pledges to keep up oil trade with Iran in the face of US sanctions.
Salehi was quoted to have said that Iran could resume enriching uranium to 20 percent purity if it fails to see the economic benefit of the 2015 deal that curbed its nuclear program.
“I will pass certainly a word of caution to her (Mogherini): I think the period of patience for our people is getting more limited and limited. We are running out of the assumed timeline, which was in terms of months.”
Accrording to Reuters, following the meeting, Mogherini said she and Salehi voiced commitment to safeguarding the nuclear accord.
“They equally expressed their determination to preserve the nuclear agreement as a matter of respecting international agreements and a key pillar for European and regional security,” Mogherini’s office said in a statement.
“If we cannot sell our oil and we don’t enjoy financial transactions, then I don’t think keeping the deal will benefit us anymore,” Salehi had told Reuters ahead of the meeting with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in Brussels.
Salehi will leave Brussels tomorrow for Vienna to attend and give a lecture at the IAEA Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology, which will take place in the Austrian capital from 28 to 30 November 2018.
The Vienna conference seeks to facilitate high-level dialogue among participants on nuclear science, technology and applications for peaceful uses, and on their delivery to Member States, mainly through the Agency's technical cooperation program, while highlighting their future contribution to sustainable development, according to IAEA website.
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) will also meet with the IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano on the sidelines of the 3-day event.
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