Iran Press/America: Virginia Senator, Timothy Kaine on Saturday described Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal known as JCPOA (The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) as a foolish act resulting from Trump's jealousy towards his predecessor, Barack Obama.
Kaine tweeted: "Thank goodness Europe is committed to diplomacy and peace. US abandonment of Iran deal was idiotic and driven by Trump’s envy of Obama. The professionals—Secretary Mattis, General Dunford—urged Trump to stay in."
On Thursday, February 14, at the Warsaw conference, Mike Pence also accused Germany, Britain, France of trying to 'break' American sanctions on Iran and called on them to pull out from the nuclear deal.
Related news:
Warsaw meeting, "total failure" for US: Iran FM spokesman
However, the request was not welcomed by the Europeans.
On February 15, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini also defended the deal, saying that the bloc would do whatever possible to keep it alive.
“We believe it is fundamental and crucial to our security, and a fundamental pillar for the nuclear non-proliferation architecture globally,” she said. Mogherini's comments came as she was attending the 2019 Munich Security Conference.
France committed to Iran Deal
Meanwhile, in Paris, France’s foreign affairs ministry issued a statement in response to Mike Pence’s criticism, saying that the country was standing by its commitment to the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal.
Related news:
France backs JCPOA once again
Generally speaking, EU officials defended Europe's attempts to keep the nuclear deal with Iran alive after the unilateral American withdrawal, rejecting US President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade measures as creating a 'lose-lose' situation.
On May 8, 2018, US President Donald Trump announced America's withdrawal from the nuclear deal, and re-imposition of the highest level of sanctions and other economic penalties on Iran. The move has been condemned by the international community.
A special clearing house designed to allow European companies that trade with Iran to bypass newly reimposed US sanctions has been set up in France.
The clearing house, known as the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), is seen as critical to reassuring Tehran that the EU genuinely wishes to reward Iran for signing the 2015 deal on its nuclear program by expanding business with the country.
France, Germany and the UK are the initial shareholders of the INSTEX mechanism for trade with Iran, which has been registered in the French capital, Paris, with a capital of 3,000 euros, and will be governed by a German banking expert. 203/ 211 /103
Read more:
UK commitment to JCPOA is unchanged: UK official
The JCPOA signatures should stick to their signature: French envoy
EU unanimously rejects US call to leave Iran nuclear deal
