Germany rejects US call to leave Iran nuclear deal

Heiko Maas fired back after harsh criticism from US Vice President Mike Pence of some of Washington’s closest European allies.

According to AP, Maas told a conference of world leaders and top diplomats and defense officials that Germany, Britain, France and the European Union as a whole are committed to preserving the 2015 pact, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). But he pressed on what more Europe could do as its companies exit Iran under US pressure, he declined to spell out any new tactics.

Without this agreement, "the region will not be safer and would actually be one step closer to an open confrontation," he added.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini also told the same Conference that the bloc was determined to preserve the "full implementation" of the deal, saying it was vital to European security and an effective guarantor of peace.

"I believe if it was not for the European Union and its member states, starting with France, Germany and the UK, I am sure that the nuclear deal with Iran would have been dead long ago," she said. "We believe it is fundamental and crucial for our security."

The comments at the Munich Security Conference came the day after Pence, at a conference in Warsaw, accused the three European NATO allies of trying to “break” American sanctions on Iran and called on them to pull out from the nuclear deal.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini also defended the deal, saying that the bloc would do whatever possible to keep it alive.

She told the same Conference that the bloc was determined to preserve the "full implementation" of the deal, saying it was vital to European security and an effective guarantor of peace.

"I believe if it was not for the European Union and its member states, starting with France, Germany and the UK, I am sure that the nuclear deal with Iran would have been dead long ago," she said. "We believe it is fundamental and crucial for our security."

In Paris, France’s foreign affairs ministry issued a statement in response to Pence’s call, saying that the country was standing by its commitment to the implementation of the Iran deal.

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