Europe Believes Iran Nuclear Deal Necessary, Favours Deal Implementation - Maas

BERLIN (Sputnik) - European countries are united in their belief that it is necessary to have a nuclear agreement with Iran and to implement it, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Monday.

"We in Europe agree that this deal is crucial for our security. No one wants Iran to have a nuclear bomb, and this [preventing Iran from having it] is what the deal aims at. We have been successfully doing it so far. This is why we will continue to speak together in favour of the implementation of this agreement. We are conducting negotiations again exactly for this purpose", Maas told reporters upon his arrival at the Foreign Affairs Council of EU ministers in Brussels.

The German foreign minister stressed that Europe presumed that Iran would not gradually discontinue its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as Iran nuclear deal, but would fully implement its commitments instead.

Iranian President Rouhani announced on 8 May — one year the after US withdrawal from the JCPOA — that Tehran would partially discontinue its commitments under the deal. Rouhani gave Europe 60 days to ensure Iran's interests were protected under the agreement. Otherwise, Tehran is ready to take further steps on scrapping the nuclear deal, Rouhani added.