BERLIN, April 14. /TASS/. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday urged countries which imposed sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program to keep a unified approach to lifting them.
Merkel praised the preliminary agreement reached on April 2 between Tehran and six world powers in Lausanne, calling it a very important step. "I urge people to lift those sanctions together, as far as possible," the chancellor said.
Sanctions against Iran
From 2006, the UN Security Council has adopted eight resolutions on Iran’s nuclear program. The resolutions imposed arms and nuclear technologies embargo on Tehran, prohibited activities connected to developing ballistic missiles, and targeted individuals and organizations by freezing assets and restricting travel. Iran has repeatedly demanded the cancellation of these and other sanctions imposed unilaterally by the US and other countries.
Agreement on Iran’s nuclear program
On April 2, Iran and P5+1 group (Russia, US, UK, China, France and Germany) reached a breakthrough agreement in Switzerland’s Lausanne on restricting Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for gradual lifting of sanctions. The deadline for coordinating the final agreement is June 30.
According to the deal, Iran will not enrich uranium no higher than to 3.67% for the next 15 years. Tehran will also cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium from around 10 tons to 300 kilograms. Iran agreed not to set up new facilities for uranium enrichment in the next 15 years, and vowed not to reprocess spent nuclear fuel and conduct research in this sphere.
On April 9, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the Iran will sign a final agreement with P5+1 group only after all sanctions are lifted from Tehran.