EU Pushing US to Honor JCPOA: Top Diplomat
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said the European Union is trying to keep the US committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the US president has threatened to to pull out of the nuclear agreement in May.
Speaking at a press conference in Brussels on Monday, Mogherini pointed to the main topics discussed in an 8-hour-long meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council earlier in the day, saying, “We finally addressed once again Iran: restating our full support to the full implementation of the nuclear deal with Iran.”
“We assessed once again with the 28 Member States that we attach strategic importance to the full implementation of the agreement by all parties. It is for us a matter of security, for Europe and for the rest of the world,” the EU website quoted her as saying.
Asked about conflicting views on the JCPOA and a May 12 deadline for US President Donald Trump to decide about Washington’s commitment to the nuclear deal, Mogherini said, “Here we are the European Union and we work on our deadlines, on our timeline and on our priorities, making clear which are our strategic priorities. And our clear strategic priority is to continue with the good implementation that was certified ten times by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). We all recognized that this is the case, including our American friends - last time was on Friday during an E3+3 or 5+1 meeting together with Iran (meeting of the JCPOA Joint Commission). I always say you might hear different tones, different accents - diversity is one of the richnesses of Europe and we value it.”
“…We have a major interest in keeping Iran fully compliant with the JCPOA. This is the first objective we have: to continue to have Iran implementing all its nuclear-related obligations under the Nuclear Deal, but also to keep our American friends fully committed to the agreement,” she added.
“I can tell you I registered unity around the table about this - about the need to keep and preserve the nuclear agreement and to do all we can to keep all parties committed to the full implementation of the agreement. Also starting to prepare, in case it will be needed, to protect European interests in case other decisions are taken elsewhere,” Mogherini stressed.