Germany to US: Europe united on preserving Iran deal
Europe is still “very, very united” on continuing to support Iran's nuclear deal, says German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
Mass made the remarks on Wednesday during a meeting with US National Security Adviser John Bolton.
“Europe is very, very united in its position on the nuclear accord with Iran, and that will not change... We don’t want a proliferation of nuclear weapons in our expanded neighborhood,” he said.
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Maas noted that European countries share concerns about Iran’s missile program, but believe that such issues should be addressed without undermining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Mass also met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo where he suggested a four-way meeting with Germany, Britain, France and the United States concerning the deal.
"I think we're far away from a compromise" with the US, Maas noted, adding, "We're pursuing two completely different paths."
Earlier in the day, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei set out conditions for Tehran to stay in the nuclear deal with world powers, including steps by European banks to safeguard trade with Tehran after the US withdrawal from the agreement.
Ayatollah Khamenei added that European powers must protect Iranian oil sales from US pressure and continue buying Iranian crude, and must promise they would not seek new talks on Iran's missile program and regional activities.
In his first major foreign policy address since moving to the State Department from the CIA, Pompeo said on Monday that Washington would increase the financial pressure on Iran by imposing the "strongest sanctions in history" on the Islamic Republic if Tehran refused to change the course of its foreign and domestic policy.
Pompeo also outlined 12 US demands for Iran, including halting its uranium enrichment and closing its heavy water reactor, for any "new deal" with Tehran.
He spoke two weeks after President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal that had lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.
Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was walking away from the nuclear agreement, which was reached between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the US, Britain, France, Russia and China -- plus Germany – in 2015.
He also said he would reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the highest level" of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.
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