The European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini was speaking to reporters on Monday upon her arrival at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels ahead of a meeting of the EU foreign ministers. This is the first meeting on ministerial level following the US pullout from the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
"Today on the agenda of the foreign ministers, we have first and foremost our work to preserve the nuclear deal with Iran," Mogherini noted.
"You know that we have been acting already at European Union level to put in place a set of measures to make sure that the nuclear agreement is preserved and the economic investments from the European side, but also from other sides in the world are protected," The European Union's foreign policy chief added.
She noted that the EU foreign ministers plan to hold talks on the issue so that they would be able to "contribute and compliment on their side to the measures that we have put in place on the level of the European Union."
Mogherini further said she would inform the ministers on the "good" meeting of the Joint Commission held in Vienna on Friday at the level of deputy ministers of all signatories to the JCPOA except the US and also Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano, who "certified for the eleventh time that Iran is fully compliant with all its nuclear-related commitments on the deal."
US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was walking away from the nuclear agreement, which was reached between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, Britain, France, Russia and China - plus Germany.
Trump also said he would reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the highest level" of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that US enmity toward Iran was profound, but noted that all American plots against the country had failed since the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In a report shown to the media on Thursday, the IAEA said Iran is observing the key restrictions under the nuclear agreement and called on the Islamic Republic to remain compliant with the JCPOA and even go beyond its legal obligations in order to boost international confidence in Tehran's commitments.
After the US withdrawal, five signatories to the JCPOA and Iran met in Vienna on May 25 at Iran's request and emphasized the importance of working together to explore ways to save the accord.
The parties indicated more confidence was built after the meeting in the capital of Austria.
