Germany, Russia FMs Call for Upholding Nuclear Agreement

The foreign ministers of Germany and Russia said on Thursday they were working to preserve the Iran nuclear deal after US President Donald Trump announced Washington was leaving it and ordered the reimposition of sanctions on Tehran.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said it was crucial Iran sticks to its obligations under the international 2015 deal despite Trump promising to impose new sanctions on Tehran. Moscow, he said, could use its influence on Tehran to that end, Reuters reported.

“It is necessary that Iran stays in the agreement. It is in Iran’s interest, too, to keep the agreement alive,” Maas said after meeting Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.

The White House said Wednesday that Trump was preparing to impose new sanctions on Tehran, perhaps as early as next week, but gave no details.

“It is important to learn about the rules concerning the so called secondary effects, that is, what does it mean for a European company’s America business if it continues to do business with Iran,” Maas said.

Lavrov said it was crucial that any new US sanctions on Iran did not scuttle the hard-won deal, officially known as JCPOA.

“Without doubt we will make sure firstly that this does not destroy the JCPOA. This is our common objective, we confirmed this,” Lavrov said at a joint conference with Maas.