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European powers vow to save Iran deal

| Updated: May 09, 2018 18:26:02


Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May is flanked by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel before their trilateral meeting at the European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, March 22, 2018. Reuters. Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May is flanked by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel before their trilateral meeting at the European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, March 22, 2018. Reuters.

Western powers say they remain committed to the Iran nuclear deal - after the US announced it was withdrawing from the agreement.

The UK, France and Germany say they ‘will work with all remaining parties’ and urged the US not to obstruct its implementation.

The other signatories to the 2015 deal - Russia and China - have also stressed their continuing support, according to a BBC report.

Iran says it is working to salvage the deal without US involvement.

“Our governments remain committed to ensuring the agreement is upheld, and will work with all the remaining parties to the deal to ensure this remains the case,” the UK, France and Germany said in a joint statement.

On Tuesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said: “I have ordered the foreign ministry to negotiate with the European countries, China and Russia in the coming weeks.”

“If we achieve the deal’s goals in co-operation with other members of the deal, it will remain in place.”

There were furious scenes in the Iranian parliament, with members burning an American flag and the speaker reportedly saying Trump lacked ‘mental capacity’.

The so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) curbed Iran’s nuclear activities in return for the lifting of sanctions that had been imposed by the UN, US and EU.

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said the Iranian nuclear deal is ‘not dead’ despite US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw.

In his comments to French radio, Le Drian said “the deal is not dead. There’s an American withdrawal from the deal but the deal is still there”.

He said there would be a meeting between France, Britain, Germany and Iran on Monday.

Russia said it was ‘deeply disappointed’ by Trump’s decision while China expressed regret.

But the move has been welcomed by Iran’s major regional rivals, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a prominent critic of the accord, said he ‘fully supports’ Trump’s withdrawal from a ‘disastrous’ deal.

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