E3 FMs to Gather in Brussels, Hold Emergency Talks on JCPOA

The three ministers and Mogherini will discuss their response to Iran’s announcement on Wednesday that it intended to abandon some commitments to the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), The National reported.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo canceled the Moscow leg of his Russia trip, but will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the Black Sea resort of Sochi as planned on Tuesday, a State Department official said.

Pompeo, who departed from Joint Base Andrews near Washington en route for Brussels, will hold talks with European officials on Iran and other issues on Monday before heading to Russia.

The ministers will discuss progress on their efforts to enable trade to continue with Iran.

The ministers said they remain committed to trade with Tehran that has upheld its commitments in the nuclear deal.

“This deal still offers the best prospect of averting a nuclear arms race in the Middle East," a British Foreign Office spokesman said.

"While Iran remains in compliance, the UK remains committed to the Iran deal.

“Following the Foreign Secretary’s discussions with Secretary of State Pompeo last week, he wanted to meet counterparts at the earliest opportunity to agree on our response to Iran’s worrying announcement.”

Announcing the decision to abandon some commitments to the deal on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said he would give other signatories of the agreement 60 days to return to negotiating financial and oil deals.

On Thursday, the European signatories of the deal issued a joint statement rejecting the deadline and urging Iran to reconsider its decision to withdraw from some elements.

Ahead of an EU summit in Romania on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the nuclear deal must be saved and that the accord’s signatories should do all they can to ensure Iran respects it.

The European signatories said they regretted the decision by the US to reimpose sanctions on Iran on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Trump offered Iran direct talks, saying its leaders should “call me” and suggesting that America would help to revive the country’s economy if it did not “stockpile nuclear weapons”.

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