EU foreign ministers were scheduled to discuss the latest developments in efforts to safeguard the Iran nuclear deal during a meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on Monday.
“Today’s agenda covers the entire world basically: from Venezuela to Iran, from the Western Balkans to our relations with the African Union,” EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said ahead of the meeting, according to the website of the European External Action Service.
The meeting came as European signatories to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which curbed its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, are struggling to convince the country to stay in the deal, which US President Donald Trump jettisoned in May.
Washington has since intensified pressure on Tehran with the reimposition of a series of tough economic sanctions that bar imports of Iranian energy and prevent financial institutions from conducting transactions with its central bank.
In a statement issued ahead of the EU foreign ministerial meeting, the bloc said it will explore steps toward the establishment of effective financial channels and the continuation of trade with Iran, ISNA reported.
It added that the nuclear accord, which is supported by UN Security Council Resolution 2231, is a key element of the global non-proliferation architecture and crucial for regional and international security.
Facilitation of Trade
Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said before the talks that “we don’t want Iran to use enriched uranium for military purposes, and we believe we can achieve that only with the upholding of the nuclear deal”.
“This is why we want to facilitate steps toward allowing payments and economic activity in Iran,” he was quoted as telling reporters by Kuwait News Agency.
Iran has strongly denied that its nuclear work has a military dimension.
The European Union has so far enabled its lending arm, the European Investment Bank, to add Iran to a list of countries with which it does business and introduced a law to shield European companies from US sanctions, Reuters reported.
Both measures are part of a wider package meant to show European good faith to Iran and would be complemented with the so-called Special Purpose Vehicle or SPV, a clearing house that avoids monetary transfers in dollars between the EU and Iran.
Missile Program
The chief German diplomat said the 28 EU countries “will also discuss about our points of criticism toward Iran, in terms of its role in Syria, its ballistic missiles program, the human rights issues and the activity of Iranian secret service in Europe. We need to apply pressure on Iran and this will be an important issue today.”
Iran denies all charges and insists that its ballistic missile activities are deterrent in nature, while ruling out any negotiations with the West over its defense program.
Different groups of EU countries are pushing for tougher action against Iran over its ballistic missile program, according to the Financial Times.
Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said ahead of Monday’s talks that European powers will review measures meant to preserve the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, ISNA reported.
Beneficial Deal
Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok told Politico in an interview on Sunday that European governments are still trying to keep the agreement alive.
When asked about the impact of Iran’s recent reported testing of a medium-range ballistic missile on the accord, Blok said the agreement “was, and in my opinion still is, a treaty that has benefits for both Europe and Iran, and that we still strive to maintain.”
The minister noted that issues like Iran’s development of ballistic missiles and its regional policies “should be addressed separately from the nuclear deal”.
