German Foreign Minister opposes the US about Iran: "We don't want a firestorm in the Middle East"

[Jultxxxyes]

The senior German diplomat says that European countries seek to "make progress" through diplomacy, and not an escalation of tension.

 

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that the US and Europe have a "different approach" on Iran and the 2015 nuclear agreement. In his words, instead of following Washington's maximum pressure campaign against Tehran, the EU would opt for diplomacy, in order to avoid further escalation. of tensions in the region.

"While the US unilaterally abandoned the nuclear agreement and imposed maximum pressure [on Iran], we want to make progress through negotiations. France, the United Kingdom and Germany want to maintain the agreement to prevent Iran from obtaining weapons nuclear, "Maas said in an interview with Bild, published this Sunday.

The minister added that "pure threats" and military action have done "nothing" to change Iran's behavior. "We should not pretend that an externally induced regime change in Tehran will automatically improve the situation. That has gone wrong in other places, such as in Iraq," he warns.

"We want to avoid a firestorm in the Middle East. The EU is committed to diplomacy instead of escalation," said Maas.

This Thursday, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauet confirmed the reports that Washington pressured Berlin, Paris and London to accuse Iran of violating the 2015 nuclear agreement, threatening to impose auto tariffs on the opposite case. .

"Non-reversible implications"
On Tuesday, the United Kingdom, France and Germany declared that Iran's actions regarding the Comprehensive Joint Action Plan (JCPOA) "have non-reversible proliferation implications" and activated the dispute mechanism, explaining that the " general objective "of this measure is to" preserve "the agreement.

At this step, which could lead to the restoration of the UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Tehran reacted by threatening to give a "serious and firm" response to any "destructive action" taken by any of the signatories of the JCPOA.

On January 19, the president of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani, warned that Iran could review cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if pressure from the European Union increases.

For his part, the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a speech during Friday's prayers indicated that "you cannot trust" the United Kingdom, France and Germany, European signatories of the pact, from which he unilaterally withdrew USA, and said that the actions of those countries to pressure the Islamic Republic will not work.