The European Union considers it vital to preserve the Iran nuclear deal in the face of the US aggressive stance, EU's top diplomat said, describing the landmark agreement as "a strategic interest" for the bloc.
"Europeans have always made it clear, the European Union has always made it clear, that for us keeping the agreement in place is vital. It's a strategic interest for the European Union and we will stick to it," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters before chairing a EU ministerial meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.
Her renewed pledge came against the backdrop of an approaching deadline for US President Donald Trump to extend a suspension of anti-Iran sanctions, as called for by the 2015 nuclear accord.
The deal placed time-bound restrictions on Tehran's nuclear activities, in return.
Trump has threatened to withdraw from the deal by not signing the sanctions waivers, unless US, British, French and German negotiators can agree to fix what he sees as its serious flaws.
"I understand May 12 is the deadline. Any decision could come before that or by that time. We're doing what we can with our American friends to make sure that all parties stay fully committed to the full implementation of the agreement, as it is the case so far," Mogherini said.
"I expect here that member states will reiterate our strong, unequivocal commitment to the full implementation of the nuclear deal with Iran by all sides and obviously the three will share with the others their efforts, in particular with the American administration. We'll debrief also on another work we're doing with the other international players that are key to the deal and obviously our ongoing work with Iran to keep compliance to the deal."
Iran has said US withdrawal from the nuclear deal and reinstating of sanctions would destroy the agreement and has threatened a range of responses, including immediately restarting nuclear activities currently barred under the deal.
Western media have reported some progress after the fourth meeting of the US and European negotiators last week.
The discussions between the four powers focus on many issues that Trump wants to be addressed if he is to keep the US in the deal.
Those issues include Iran’s ballistic missile testing and regional role, which are not covered by the deal, along with inspections of suspected nuclear sites and so-called “sunset provisions” that gradually allow Iran to resume advanced nuclear work after several years, which are part of the agreement.
Iran's regional activities, which the US describes as "malign", including its support for Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Houthi fighters in Yemen, were dealt with in a separate session that ended inconclusively, according to officials cited by AP, who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Settling Key Issues
Two senior US officials said the sides are “close to agreement” on missiles and inspections but “not there yet” on the sunset clauses, AP reported.
The two officials and two outside advisers said the missile and inspections issues are essentially settled, but would not detail exactly what had been agreed or predict whether it would pass muster with Trump.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson declined to confirm the AP report, saying he has no information about the outcome of the negotiations so far.
"I'm unaware of the meetings between the European countries and the US and details of their discussions," Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by ISNA on Monday.
"We need to wait because I think no definite decision has yet been reached in the US and the volatile US president has a habit of making conflicting, surprise decisions at critical junctures," he added.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who are to visit Washington separately later this month, will likely be the last foreign leaders invested in the deal to see Trump ahead of the mid-May deadline.
The western officials and advisers have said the main sticking point on the Iran deal remains the sunset provisions, with the Europeans balking at US demands for the automatic re-imposition of sanctions should Iran engage in advanced nuclear activity that would be permitted by the agreement once the restrictions expire.
