Britain, France and Germany agree support for Iran nuclear deal

[webfact]

Britain, France and Germany agree support for Iran nuclear deal

 

FILE PHOTO - Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May is flanked by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel before their trilateral meeting at the European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, March 22, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/Pool

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain, France and Germany have agreed that the nuclear deal that U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to scrap remains the best way of stopping Tehran getting nuclear weapons, British Prime Minister Theresa May's office said on Sunday.

 

May had phone calls with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel where they agreed the deal may need to be broadened to cover areas such as ballistic missiles, what happens when the deal expires, and what they consider Iran's destabilising regional activity, a statement said.

 

"They committed to continue working closely together and with the U.S. on how to tackle the range of challenges that Iran poses – including those issues that a new deal might cover," the statement said.

 

This comes as a deadline looms next month for Trump to decide on whether to restore U.S. economic sanctions on Tehran - something which could destroy the 2015 agreement which lifted some sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear programme.

 

Speaking on a whistle-stop Middle East tour on Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would abandon the nuclear deal unless talks with European partners yield improvements.

 

"We’ve certainly made some (progress with the Europeans)," he said. "There is still work to do. They said: 'Great, we will support you if you get the fixes'."

 

Macron later spoke with President Hassan Rouhani and agreed to work with him in coming weeks to preserve the nuclear deal, his office said in a statement.

 

The French president also called for discussions on Iran's ballistic missile programmes, its nuclear activities beyond 2025 and the country's role in Middle East crises, according to his office, in a conversation that lasted more than an hour.

 

(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; editing by Jason Neely and Robin Pomeroy)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-04-30

[Krataiboy]

Another nail in Trump's coffin.

[dexterm]

So the USA and 3 European powers can sign a deal and give their word 2 and a half years ago on a nuclear agreement with Iran. In return some sanctions (US is still imposing some contrary to the spirit of the agreement) were lifted and Iran shipped its enriched uranium to Russia putting itself further away from producing a bomb. The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly certified Iran is sticking to its side of the bargain. While Iran is also a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a signatory of the Additional Protocols, which stipulate strict safeguard measures against nuclear proliferation.

 

Now Trump and it appears Macron, May and Merkel are breaking their word by moving the goalposts: Oh we forgot to mention we should have had some clause to prevent you developing missiles to defend yourself, oh and we don't want you defending other Shia Muslims in the Middles East against Sunni terrorists or Israel, oh and we want to make the deal longer.

 

Meanwhile, real nuclear powers such as  Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea have signed neither the NPT nor the Additional Protocols.

 

Sort of reeks of double standards and hypocrisy.

 

I wonder if Kim Jong-un is taking note of the quality of US and European trustworthiness when they give their word.

Edited April 30, 2018 by dexterm

[JAG]

That should make for some interesting chit chat during their working lunch on (Friday) the 23th of July

Sent from my KENNY using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[stevenl]

34 minutes ago, dexterm said:

So the USA and 3 European powers can sign a deal and give their word 2 and a half years ago on a nuclear agreement with Iran. In return some sanctions (US is still imposing some contrary to the spirit of the agreement) were lifted and Iran shipped its enriched uranium to Russia putting itself further away from producing a bomb. The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly certified Iran is sticking to its side of the bargain. While Iran is also a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a signatory of the Additional Protocols, which stipulate strict safeguard measures against nuclear proliferation.

 

Now Trump and it appears Macron, May and Merkel are breaking their word by moving the goalposts: Oh we forgot to mention we should have had some clause to prevent you developing missiles to defend yourself, oh and we don't want you defending other Shia Muslims in the Middles East against Sunni terrorists or Israel, oh and we want to make the deal longer.

 

Meanwhile, real nuclear powers such as  Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea have signed neither the NPT nor the Additional Protocols.

 

Sort of reeks of double standards and hypocrisy.

 

I wonder if Kim Jong-un is taking note of the quality of US and European trustworthiness when they give their word.

I think you're making too much of this.

 

Trump wants to cancel the deal and impose sanctions on Iran, see the present mission of Pompeo. Europe doesn't agree with that, and is trying to appease Trump by trying to expand the deal with Iran, and at the same time softening things up so there is a chance China, Russia and Iran will agree with this.

 

If they do nothing it is sure USA will withdraw, they're simply trying to make the most of a bad situation with the USA showing they're an unreliable partner.

[dexterm]

33 minutes ago, stevenl said:

I think you're making too much of this.

 

Trump wants to cancel the deal and impose sanctions on Iran, see the present mission of Pompeo. Europe doesn't agree with that, and is trying to appease Trump by trying to expand the deal with Iran, and at the same time softening things up so there is a chance China, Russia and Iran will agree with this.

 

If they do nothing it is sure USA will withdraw, they're simply trying to make the most of a bad situation with the USA showing they're an unreliable partner.

I hope you are right.

 

Not sure what you mean by "expand the deal"....same deal or new one?

 

The OP implies that Macron wants to re negotiate the deal same as Trump and include the new features that I mentioned above

"The French president also called for discussions on Iran's ballistic missile programmes, its nuclear activities beyond 2025 and the country's role in Middle East crises, according to his office, in a conversation that lasted more than an hour."

 

All somewhat perfidious when just 2 years ago they shook hands on a 10 year deal.

 

I can't see why they can't stick to the agreement they have already made, and push any other issues through the UN. Trump and possibly the other 3 seem to want to throw the baby out with the bath water, then probably place the blame on Iran as a pretext for war, just like last time we were all fooled.

 

Time will tell.

Edited April 30, 2018 by dexterm

[greenchair]

Things always seem to get done more efficiently and peacefully when the USA kindly recuses themselves. 

The tpp deal sailed on through after the US was gone. 

North Korea and south Korea seem to be working things out just fine all by themselves. 

Unfortunately the US is poking their nose back in both places. 

I'm sure Iran will do better with France England and Germany. Perhaps they could join forces to encourage the USA to get rid of their arsenal of chemical and nuclear weapons.