Macron’s top diplomatic adviser looks to save Iran N-deal

Bloomberg

French President Emmanuel Macron’s top diplomatic adviser headed to Iran on Tuesday, seeking to persuade the Islamic Republic to reverse breaches that have raised pressure on European nations struggling to save the landmark 2015 nuclear deal from collapse.
Emmanuel Bonne will meet with Iranian leaders, including a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to French officials. His trip comes a day after Iran started enriching uranium to purity levels beyond the 3.67 percent cap set in the accord and pledged to further scale back its commitments in response to US sanctions reimposed after President Donald Trump abandoned the agreement a year ago.
French officials say they see room for compromise as Iran’s infringements have been carefully calibrated and Trump has underlined his desire for new talks that seek to also limit the country’s missile programme and support for proxy militias around the Middle East. Iran has held open the door to negotiations with Europe but has said it will not speak to the US unless sanctions are eased first.
Trump and Macron discussed by phone efforts to ensure that Iran doesn’t obtain a nuclear weapon and to curtail its role in the broader Middle East, according to an emailed White House statement.
The latest developments in Tehran have increased pressure on European nations who’ve urged Iran to stick with the multi-party deal even as they struggle to find a mechanism that would allow it to keep selling its oil, the main source of government revenue.
Iran is producing oil at the slowest clip since 1986, making US sanctions as effective as the devastating Iraq-Iran war that ended more than 30 years ago. The measures have hit the currency, fuelled inflation and set back economic growth.
US officials say their policy of maximum pressure is designed to force the Iranian government to negotiate a broader deal. But the approach has weakened the hand of moderate President Hassan Rouhani and prompted Tehran to dig in.
The US is “waging war in all areas simultaneously, and using all its power in military, economic and social sphere to confront Iran,” General Hossein Salami, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, was quoted as saying by the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
“The more time passes, the more serious the enemy’s threats become.”

Iran’s military vows retaliation for Britain seizing oil tanker
Bloomberg

Iran’s military vowed to retaliate against the seizure by British Royal Marines of an oil tanker loaded with the Islamic Republic’s crude off the coast of Gibraltar.
“It will be reciprocated, at a suitable time and in a suitable place,” Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff for Iran’s armed forces, was quoted as saying by the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
The warning highlights mounting risks to shipping in a region that exports about a third of all seaborne petroleum. BP Plc is keeping an oil carrier empty inside the Persian Gulf rather than risk its seizure by Iran.
Six tankers have been attacked since May, with the US blaming Iran for the incidents, a charge Tehran denies. The tanker seized by Gibraltar with help of Royal Marines was arrested on the grounds it was taking crude to a sanctioned Syrian firm, according to the British overseas territory on Spain’s southern tip.