Iran to meet world leaders in Vienna to save nuclear deal


The foreign ministers of Iran and five world powers still party to the 2015 nuclear deal will meet in Vienna on Friday for talks on the troubled accord, state media in Tehran said.

The top diplomats of Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia will join Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the Austrian capital, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported, for their first talks together on the deal since Washington pulled out earlier this year.

During the meeting the ministers will discuss an "incentive package" the European Union is offering to try to persuade Iran to stay in the agreement, IRNA reported.

The meeting will seek "solutions to preserve the Iran nuclear deal after the illegal U.S. action to withdraw," it said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The announcement came with President Hassan Rouhani in Europe to rally support for the deal.

Iran will continue to respect its nuclear agreement with world powers as long as its interests are preserved, President Rouhani said yesterday in a speech in Switzerland, Reuters reported.

The United States withdrew in May from the 2015 agreement, under which world powers agreed to lift sanctions on Iran in return for curbs to its nuclear program.

Iran has asked European countries to offer new economic measures to offset the impact of a return of U.S. sanctions.