UNITED24 - Make a charitable donation in support of Ukraine!

Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

EU foreign ministers back Iran nuclear deal

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Mon / 16 October 2017 / 16:25

Tehran (ISNA) – European Union foreign ministers expressed their support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), calling it a very important deal.

European Union foreign ministers held a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, expressing their support for the JCPOA, Reuters reported.

UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson said, "We are working as Europeans to keep the Iran nuclear deal going. The UK has long thought that it was very important for our collective security. It's good for the world. It is good for Iran."

Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders said, "I think the agreement we have with Iran is a very important one, a very constructive one. It's verified by the IAEA. So I think it will be a great mistake if one of the partners will go in another direction".

"The consequences will not be only for the US but also for Europe and the international community. I hope the US Congress will realize this and take the right decision," he added.

Jean Asselborn, minister for foreign affairs of Luxembourg said, "We are geographically close to Iran and we need this deal for our security and we will stand by it".

"I think that Trump's policy is isolating his country, multilateralism is being destroyed. This is bad, it's a complete change in the world order since WW2," he added.

French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in Luxembourg on Monday that "we hope US Congress will not call this agreement into question".

Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders said, "The agreement concerns the safety of the world. I hope also that the U.S. Congress will realize this and take the right decisions".

Belgium's foreign minister, Didier Reynders, said that walking away would compromise trust in any future negotiations on North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

He said, "We must be able to demonstrate that when a nuclear agreement has been concluded that we respect it".

Meanwhile, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini told reporters ahead of the meeting, " I expect from the ministers a strong united support for the EU position for a continued implementation by all sides of this agreement. We do not expect the deal to be finished. So I am not considering alternatives".

End Item



NEWSLETTER
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list