Iran said Monday that it had not closed the "door to negotiations" but will consider withdrawing from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) if a dispute over its atomic programme goes before the UN Security Council.
Disputes over the nuclear agreement with world powers have escalated steadily since the United States withdrew from the deal in 2018.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said any further move by Tehran to scale back its commitments to the deal would depend on actions by other parties, after European states triggered a mechanism that could lead to the reimposition of U.N. sanctions.
Iran has gradually stepped back from its obligations to the 2015 deal, under which Tehran secured sanctions relief in return for limiting its nuclear work, after Washington quit the agreement and then imposed stringent U.S. sanctions.
Britain, France and Germany, also signatories to the pact, triggered a dispute mechanism this month, citing Iranian violations, a move that could eventually see the Security Council reimpose international sanctions on the country.
Iran has accused the three EU member states of inaction over sanctions the United States reimposed on it after unilaterally withdrawing from the landmark accord in 2018.
The European move "has no legal basis" and if they take further measures "Iran's withdrawal from the NPT will be considered," Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quoted as saying by the Iranian parliament's website.
The foreign minister said Iran's President Hassan Rouhani had warned former EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini about such consequences in three letters sent in 2018.
"It was stated in the president's letter that if this issue is referred to the Security Council, Iran's withdrawal from the NPT will be discussed but before that we can consider other (options)," he said
"Tehran still remains in the deal ... whether Iran will further decrease its nuclear commitments will depend on other parties and whether Iran's interests are secured under the deal," Mousavi told a weekly news conference in Tehran.
U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal and began a policy of "maximum pressure" on Iran, saying he wanted a new deal that would cover nuclear issues, Iran's ballistic missile programme and Iranian activities in the Middle East.
Britain has said a "Trump deal" could replace the 2015 agreement and France has called for broad talks to end a crisis with the United States, which briefly erupted into tit-for-tat U.S.-Iranian military action this month.
Mousavi repeated Iran's rejection of a "Trump deal". Iranian officials have said Trump could not be trusted, so such deal would not have any value.
Agencies
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