Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Following a meeting in Vienna on Friday to save Iran’s nuclear deal, European powers including China and Russia, said that they support Iran’s right to exporting oil and gas, despite threats of sanctions by the US.

Foreign ministers and senior diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia held talks on Friday with their Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in Vienna for the first time since US President Donald Trump announced he was abandoning the nuclear deal and moving to re-impose sanctions on Iran.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers said they are still committed to the economic relations with Iran including “Iran’s continued oil and gas exports” and other energy products.

Trump pulled the United States out of the multinational deal under which sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for curbs on its nuclear program verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Washington has since told countries they must stop buying the OPEC producer’s oil from November, 4 or face financial consequences.

Speaking on French radio ahead of arriving in the Austrian capital, France’s foreign minister said world powers would struggle to put together an economic package immediately.

“They (Iran) must stop threatening to break their commitments to the nuclear deal,” Jean-Yves Le Drian said. “We are trying to do it (economic package) before sanctions are imposed at the start of August and then the next set of sanctions in November. For August it seems a bit short, but we are trying to do it by November,” he said.

*Al Arabiya