French, German Foreign Ministers urge US to return to common approach towards Iran

French and German foreign ministers Jean-Yves Le Drian and Heiko Maas urged the United States to return to a common approach towards Iran in order to make sure that the Iranian nuclear program is peaceful.

"We also call on the United States to return to a common approach towards Iran, so that together we can make sure that the Iranian nuclear program has only peaceful purposes, and provide answers to other problems that the country poses for our security and the region," a joint ministerial statement published in the French newspaper Le Monde says.

Iran and the six international negotiators in July 2015 reached a historic agreement to resolve the longstanding problem of the Iranian nuclear program. The months-long talks ended with the adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the implementation of which will completely remove from Iran the previously imposed economic and financial sanctions by the UN Security Council, the US and the EU.

The agreement, in particular, envisioned that the arms embargo would be lifted from Iran within five years, the supply of weapons is possible earlier, but only with the permission of the UN Security Council. 

The deal in its original form did not last even three years: in May 2018, the United States announced a unilateral withdrawal from it and reinstatement of tough sanctions against Tehran.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt