Germany, France reiterate commitment to Iran nuke deal

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - Germany and France will remain committed to the nuclear agreement with Iran, even after a possible move by U.S. President Donald Trump to scrap the deal next week, foreign ministers of both countries said on Monday.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Berlin, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas stressed that the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran has made the world safer.

“We don’t see any viable alternative to limitations and control mechanisms for Iran’s nuclear nuclear program, as stipulated in the agreement,” Maas said.

“We fear that a failure of this might lead to an escalation and we might return to the period before 2013. That would be in no one's interest,” he added.

Trump has repeatedly called the agreement "one of the worst negotiated agreements" he has ever seen. He has threatened to pull the U.S. out of the deal and has to make a decision on whether he will do so by a May 12 deadline.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian stressed that France and Germany are determined to preserve the Iranian nuclear deal.

“This agreement is the right way to ensure that Iran will not develop a nuclear bomb,” he said.

“This agreement must be maintained, irrespective of the U.S. decision,” he stressed.

In July 2015, the EU and the P5+1 group of countries -- China, Germany, France, Russia, the U.K. and U.S. -- signed with Iran the nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

World powers agreed to lift some of the economic sanctions imposed on Iran in return for the latter agreeing to rein in its nuclear program.