[Bloomberg] Iranian President Hassan Rouhani goes to Switzerland and Austria this week with the landmark nuclear accord negotiated in the two Alpine countries hanging in the balance.The state visits to Bern on Tuesday and Vienna on Wednesday are likely to be Rouhani’s last before President Donald Trump begins reimposing sanctions on the Islamic Republic Aug. 6. Iran has pledged to resume its nuclear activities, and follow the U.S. out of the deal, unless France, Germany and the U.K. come up with guarantees to ensure investment and trade continue. Austria has just assumed the rotating European Union presidency.
"There’s a great deal at stake -- trade wars, reputation and European security," said Paul Ingram, executive director of the British American Security Information Council, which promotes global nuclear disarmament. "Rouhani will need to press the Europeans for particular commitments beyond the warm words, and communicate his own limited domestic ability to stick with the JCPOA should the Europeans cave under U.S. pressure."
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the July 2015 accord that capped Iran’s most sensitive nuclear work in return for the lifting of many sanctions, was plunged into crisis by Trump’s May 8 decision to exit even as international inspectors continued to verify Rouhani’s government was living up to its side of the bargain. The U.S. accuses Iran of violating the accord’s spirit through destabilizing activities the Middle East.