German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday that EU countries agreed the Iran nuclear deal was “not perfect” but insisted it should be preserved, after the US withdrawal threw the accord into doubt.
EU leaders meeting in Sofia have backed a “united” approach to keeping the deal alive after US President Donald Trump pulled out and reimposed sanctions, complaining the accord did nothing to stop Iran’s ballistic missile program or interference in Middle East conflicts.
“Everyone in the European Union shares the view that the agreement is not perfect, but that we should remain in this agreement and conduct further negotiations with Iran on the basis of other issues such as the ballistic missile program,” Mrs Merkel said as she arrived for the EU-Western Balkans summit in Bulgarian capital of Sofia.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the bloc was working to keep the existing agreement alive “so that our businesses can remain” in Iran.
This effort would run alongside work to “pursue negotiations on a vital broader agreement,” Mr Macron said.
Read the article in The Australian (AFP,PA).