Britain’s May agrees with France, Germany on upholding Iran nuclear deal
SOFIA
British Prime Minister Theresa May agreed with the leaders of Germany and France on May 17 to uphold the Iran nuclear deal after meeting on the sidelines of an EU summit in Bulgaria, May’s spokeswoman said.
May met German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from a nuclear deal between Iran and major powers. Trump has since imposed new sanctions.
“The leaders reiterated their firm commitment to ensuring the deal is upheld, stressing that it is important for our shared security,” the spokeswoman said.
“They pledged to work with the many parties to the deal to this end. The leaders stressed that Iran must continue to meet its own obligations under the deal.”
The European Commission will launch on May 18 the process of activating a law that bans European companies from complying with U.S. sanctions against Iran and does not recognize any court rulings that enforce American penalties.
“As the European Commission we have the duty to protect European companies. We now need to act and this is why we are launching the process of to activate the ‘blocking statute’ from 1996. We will do that tomorrow morning at 1030,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said.
“We also decided to allow the European Investment Bank to facilitate European companies’ investment in Iran. The Commission itself will maintain its cooperation will Iran,” Juncker told a news conference after a meeting of EU leaders.
