UK, Germany and France urge US not to tear up Iran nuclear deal
Washington’s closest allies have sent a carefully timed warning to Donald Trump not to tear up the Iran nuclear deal, saying it is essential for international security, and no better alternative has been suggested by the White House.At a meeting in Brussels attended by the Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif, the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany, the three EU signatories to the deal, insisted that Iran was respecting the agreement signed in 2015.The display of resolve came before a decision by the US president, expected on Friday, on whether to continue to sign a waiver to prevent the reimposition of economic sanctions against Iran. Tehran has warned that any failure to sign the waiver would lead to the deal’s collapse, and the speedy restart of uranium enrichment.Read moreThe EU’s top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, said the deal, denounced by Trump as the worst ever made, had in reality “made the world safer and prevented a potential nuclear arms race in the region”.She also said any doubts the EU harboured over Iran’s development of ballistic missiles, or its overall policy of interference across the Middle East, were separate from the nuclear deal – also known as the JCPOA.Both France and Britain, in part to remain in alliance with the US, have said Iran needs to sign fresh agreements over both issues. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has spoken of supplementing the nuclear deal.Zarif did not join the post-meeting press conference but tweeted: “Strong consensus in Brussels today: 1) Iran is complying with #JCPOA, 2) Iranian people have every right to all its dividends, 3) Any move that undermines JCPOA is unacceptable. E3 and EU fully aware that Iran’s continued compliance conditioned on full compliance by the US.”The German foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, said: “We want to protect the JCPOA against every possible undermining decision whatever that may come. It would send a very dangerous signal to the rest of the world if the only agreement that prevents the proliferation of nuclear weapons was negatively affected.”The French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said: “There is no indication today that could call into doubt Iranian respect of the agreement.”Boris Johnson, Britain’s foreign secretary, said: “I don’t think anybody has so far produced a better alternative” to the agreement.He said it was “incumbent on those who oppose the JCPOA to come up with that better solution because we have not seen it so far.We greatly value the JCPOA, the nuclear deal with Iran. We think it is a considerable diplomatic accomplishment.
It’s a way of stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and Iran is in compliance with this agreement, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.”
