European leaders have pushed back against Israel’s claims that it has new evidence showing Iran breached the 2015 nuclear accord with the West, known as the JCPOA.
The French foreign ministry issued a statement saying the details of Netanyahu's claims needed to be “studied and evaluated” but that the Israeli claims reinforced the need for continuation of the nuclear deal with Tehran.
The French foreign ministry statement said: "The pertinence of the deal is reinforced by the details presented by Israel".
The UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, also said the presentation of the claims, by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, showed the importance of keeping the nuclear deal. Johnson said: "The Iran nuclear deal is not based on trust, rather it is based on tough verification."
A German government spokesman said it would analyse the Israeli documents, but added that the JCPOA had unprecedentedly strong monitoring mechanisms.
However, no European leader rejected Netanyahu's presentation more forcefully than the EU’s foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini.
Mogherini said Netanyahu’s allegations had “not put into question” Tehran’s compliance with the nuclear deal and that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had produced 10 reports saying Iran had met its commitments.
Mogherini added: "The International Atomic Energy Authority is the only impartial international organisation in charge of monitoring Iran’s nuclear commitments. If any country has information of non compliance of any kind it should address this information to the proper legitimate and recognised mechanism.”
Meanwhile, European media have reported British prime minister, Theresa May, French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, discussed the fate of the nuclear deal (JCPOA) by phone on Sunday, with the focus shifting increasingly to whether it would be possible for the EU , Russia, China and Tehran to continue the nuclear deal even if the US pulls out.
