Main goal is to deny Iran nuclear weapons, says Germany

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) – Germany on Wednesday reiterated that the main objective is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons as talks over reviving the 2015 nuclear deal remain stalled.

“Our goal in the entire game ... is and remains to prevent Iran from being nuclear-armed, and we do not want a nuclear weapons race in the Near and Middle East,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Andrea Sasse told reporters in Berlin.

“It’s a very serious question. It is very concretely about Iran not being nuclear-armed and being able to develop nuclear weapons,” she added.

Berlin has previously urged Tehran to show “political will” to resolve a lingering standoff over a nuclear probe.

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency has been calling on Iran to explain the presence of undeclared man-made uranium found at three sites, requesting “access to locations and material” as well as the collection of samples.

In the absence of progress, the UN nuclear watchdog said it could not guarantee the authenticity and integrity of Iran’s nuclear program.

Tehran has repeatedly said that traces of enriched uranium found in Iran were brought into the country from abroad.

The US and its Western allies argue that the nuclear talks were stalled because Tehran was “making demands that have nothing to do” with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The Iran nuclear agreement was scrapped in 2018 by then-American President Donald Trump.