UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss: UK Must Prevent Iran From Getting Nuclear Weapons

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who is running for prime minister, has said the United Kingdom and the international community must prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

“We have to stop Iran getting nuclear weapons. That is very, very clear,” Truss told The Jewish Chronicle newspaper.

However, Truss did not answer the question whether she would support military actions against Iran if it turns out that Tehran is already acquiring a functioning nuclear bomb. 

The United Kingdom, Russia, China, Germany, the United States, France, the European Union, and Iran signed the Iranian nuclear deal (JCPOA) in 2015, imposing restrictions on the advancement of the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from JCPOA and reimposed comprehensive sanctions, prompting Iranian authorities to respond by gradually abandoning their own commitments under the deal, specifically on nuclear research, centrifuges and the level of uranium enrichment. Both countries expressed interest in resuming talks on the JCPOA after Joe Biden replaced Trump at the White House.

In December 2021, JCPOA parties agreed on two drafts of the new deal, but no definitive agreement has been reached. Since then, the parties had several rounds of talks on the revival of the deal.