Iran says to reduce more obligations under nuke deal

TEHRAN

Iran plans a third phase of scaling down commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, according to the country's foreign ministry on Monday.

Speaking at a press conference in Tehran, ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said the third phase will be planned in correspondence with the circumstances facing Iran and other signatories of the nuclear deal, the semi-official Fars news reported.

The spokesman said French President Emmanuel Macron was making efforts to salvage the agreement with the support of other European states.

"Iran is waiting for the results of the EU's efforts to preserve the deal and is planning to reduce its commitments proportional to EU measures to preserve the deal," he said.

Iran started to cut its commitments under the nuclear deal in a retaliatory move following the U.S. unilateral decision to withdraw from the agreement between Tehran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany and the EU.

The U.S. has since embarked upon a diplomatic and economic campaign to ramp up pressure on Iran to force it to renegotiate the agreement.

The nuclear deal allows Iran to reduce its commitments in case of breaches by other parties. Tehran wants the EU to act more actively regarding the implementation of its part of obligations, saying it will return to the full compliance with the deal once the EU has nullified the U.S. sanctions.

*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara