Mogherini: Nuclear Deal Enforcement in European Interest

The top EU diplomat said last year’s nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers is enshrined in a UN Security Council resolution and cannot be altered by one government, stressing that it is in the interest of the European Union to ensure that the agreement is fully enforced.

“And on Iran, let me tell you very clearly that this is not a bilateral agreement, it is a multilateral agreement, endorsed by the UN Security Council resolution. So it is in our European interest, but also in the UN interest and duty to guarantee that the agreement is implemented in full. For the whole duration of the agreement, which is 10 years,” EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said on Sunday at the end of an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, the official website of the EU reported on Monday.

The ministers discussed a wide range of issues, including the possible changes in US foreign policy under president-elect Donald Trump.

“I have personally a specific role to guarantee that this [the nuclear deal] is done by all sides, and for sure this is in European interest. So we will take that as one of the key elements that will not change,” Mogherini stressed.

Iran and P5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany), reached the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in July 2015. The accord came into force in January to place time-bound constraints on Tehran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

In a speech to the pro-Israeli lobby group AIPAC (American-Israel Public Affairs Committee) in March, Trump said his “number-one priority” would be to “dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran.”

After Trump’s victory in last week’s US presidential vote, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran expects the new US administration to respect the international agreement.