Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has issued five demands to the European Union (EU)—including Europe guaranteeing Iran’s oil will be completely sold—that European leaders could find quite difficult to meet.
“Iran will resume halted nuclear activities if Europe fails to provide guarantees,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, a week after the EU said that it would act to protect the interests of EU companies investing in Iran as part of the European bloc’s continued commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.
After the U.S. withdrew from the deal, the EU, China, and Russia are trying to salvage the deal, and their diplomats are expected to meet with Iranian counterparts for talks in Vienna on Friday.
Ahead of those talks, Iran’s Supreme Leader stated his demands:
- “The US has rejected the Resolution 2231 [the UN resolution endorsing the Iran nuclear deal]; Europe needs to issue a resolution against the US’s violation of it.”
- “Europe must promise not to raise the issues of missiles and regional affairs of the Islamic Republic.”
- “Europe must encounter any sanction against the Islamic Republic and explicitly stand to US’s sanctions.”
- “Europe must guarantee that Iran’s oil will be completely sold. If the US can damage the sale of our oil, we must be able to sell as much oil as we want. Europeans must guarantee that they compensate for the loss, and that they buy Iran’s oil.”
- “European banks must guarantee transactions with the Islamic Republic. We have no conflicts with regard to these three countries; but we do not trust them, based on previous experience.”
According to Eurasia Group analyst Henry Rome who spoke to CNBC, Khamenei’s demands should not be taken as the final position, because he is known to have changed his mind in the past.