By staff and agency

EU to continue defending nuclear deal: Mogherini

September 13, 2018 - 10:43

The European Union will continue to defend the 2015 nuclear deal, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said on Tuesday.

During her speech at the plenary session of the European Parliament on EU-U.S. relations, she said, “We continue and we will continue to defend the nuclear deal with Iran, the Paris agreement on climate change, and to fund the essential work of all the UN agencies, including UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East,” the EU website reported.

“We Europeans continue to see multilateralism as the best way to prevent chaos, conflicts and confrontations in a multi-polar world,” she noted.

U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, on May 8 and ordered restoration of sanctions against Iran. 

The first batch of sanctions was snapped back on August 6. The second batch will be restored on November 4.

Europe is expected to present its practical package to preserve the JCPOA before the second round of U.S. sanctions start in November.

Germany and France said on August 28 that they’re working on financing solutions to sidestep U.S. sanctions against countries such as Iran, including a possible role for central banks.

“With Germany, we are determined to work on an independent European or Franco-German financing tool which would allow us to avoid being the collateral victims of U.S. extra-territorial sanctions,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said during a meeting with press association AJEF. “I want Europe to be a sovereign continent not a vassal, and that means having totally independent financing instruments that do not today exist.”

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also weighed in, saying the EU is working to protect economic ties with Iran and keep payment channels open. Maas reiterated a proposal to make international payments systems like SWIFT more independent of the U.S.