Iran tells EU to speed up efforts to save nuclear deal

Iran said on Monday that Europe should accelerate its efforts to salvage a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers that was abandoned by U.S. President Donald Trump in May, Iranian state TV reported.

"Europeans and other signatories of the deal (China and Russia) hav been trying to save the deal ... but the process has been slow. It should be accelerated," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi told a weekly news conference broadcast live on state TV.

"Iran relies mainly on its own capabilities to overcome America's new sanctions."

European states have been scrambling to ensure Iran gets enough economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal since U.S. withdrawal from the deal, which Trump said was "deeply flawed".

The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran in August, targeting Iran’s trade in gold and other precious metals, its purchases of U.S. dollars and its car industry.