EU reiterates commitment to Iran deal amid US threat to scrap it

The EU foreign policy chief has reaffirmed the bloc’s commitment to the 2015 international nuclear agreement between Iran and six other countries in the face of the belligerent US rhetoric against the accord.

“At a time of acute nuclear threats the European Union is determined to preserve the JCPOA as a key pillar of the international non-proliferation architecture,” Federica Mogherini said in Luxembourg on Thursday.

The JCPOA stands for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the nuclear deal reached between Iran and the US, Russia, China, France, Britain, and Germany is officially called.

She also described the agreement as “the culmination of 12 years of diplomacy facilitated by the European Union” and endorsed by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231.

“The European Union is committed to the continued full and effective implementation of all parts of the JCPOA. The European Union underlines that the lifting of nuclear related sanctions has a positive impact on trade and economic relations with Iran,” she added.

Under the deal, Iran undertook to apply certain limits to its nuclear program in exchange for the termination of all nuclear-related sanctions against Tehran.

Donald Trump, who rose to the US presidency a year after the implementation of the deal had begun, has opposed it.

On Friday, Trump refused to certify Iran’s compliance with the terms of the nuclear accord under a domestic American law, kicking a decision to Congress over whether to restore sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

He also threatened to “terminate” the JCPOA if he could not “reach a solution working with Congress and our allies” to change it.

On Monday, Trump further termed the JCPOA “a horrible deal for the United States” and warned that the agreement’s “total termination” was “a very real possibility.”

Elsewhere in her comments, Mogherini said the EU “encourages” Washington to maintain its commitment to the JCPOA.