TEHRAN – A number of European leaders have expressed support for the 2015 nuclear deal ahead of the United Nations General Assembly.

Their remarks come as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani traveled to New York on Sunday to, as he has said, make a stand against the unilateral U.S. exit from the deal.

On Sunday, British Prime Minister Theresa May said Iran is in compliance with its commitments under the nuclear accord, stressing that the agreement should be kept alive.

Speaking to CBS, May said that her country believes that the accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), "should stay in place".

The British leader emphasized that other signatories to the deal - repudiated by the United States - "believe that it should stay in place".

U.S. President Donald Trump in May announced he was quitting the deal and reimposing sanctions on Iran, in contempt of the JCPOA requiring no sanctions should be placed on Tehran. 

A first round of American sanctions took effect in August, targeting Iran's access to the U.S. dollar, metals trading, coal, industrial software, and auto sector. A second round, forthcoming on November 4, will be targeting Iran’s oil sales and its Central Bank.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also told Le Monde in an interview published on Sunday that as long as Iran stays committed to the JCPOA, his country will also honor it.

Le Drian further stressed the need for “normal” trade relations with Iran, especially over medical and agricultural products, stressing that the U.S. needs to tell which economic sections will be affected by its unilateral sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

SP/PA