TEHRAN - Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has said that Tehran is ready for any scenario if the Europeans fail to save the 2015 nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“We have considered many mechanisms to counter the sanctions and our colleagues in the government economic apparatus have have established committees which are studying solutions,” he told IRNA in an interview published on Saturday.

He said that the U.S. is putting pressure on the Europeans to prevent them from doing business with Iran, noting the move is “against the European countries’ sovereignty”.

In May, U.S. President Donald Trump officially withdrew Washington from the 2015 nuclear deal and ordered sanctions on Iran. The first round of sanctions went into force on August 6 and the second round, which targets Iran’s oil exports and banks, were announced on November 4.

France, Germany, Britain and the European Union issued a joint statement on November 2 condemning the U.S. move in reimposing sanctions on Iran and vowed to protect European companies doing “legitimate” business with Tehran.

The statement read that Europe will also seek to “maintain financial channels operational with Iran and to ensure the continuation of Iranian oil and gas exports”.

NA/PA