Ahead of President Trump’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly this week, more than 70 top European officials signed a statem…
North Korea, Iran and the mass flight of minority Muslims from Myanmar are a few of the bigger challenges that await more than 100 heads of state government as the annual United Nations General Assembly gears up in New York.
Ahead of President Trump’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly this week, more than 70 top European officials signed a statement urging the United States to re-certify that Iran is in compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal.
The agreement, reached between Iran and six world powers, allows Iran to enrich uranium for use in energy production but seeks to limit its ability to develop nuclear weapons. In exchange for allowing international inspections, Iran saw some sanctions lifted.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors the deal, said last month that Iran was continuing to satisfy its obligations.
But the Trump administration, which has twice re-certified the deal, has suggested that it may not do so again next month. In July, the U. S. imposed some new sanctions on Iran for launching a missile into space, a move that Trump said violated the “spirit” of the agreement.
The European statement said that while it wants to address the U. S. concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, it would be “unwarranted” for it not certify that Iran is in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
The statement urged Trump and the U. S. Congress to “accept that the fastest path to an Iranian nuclear weapon would be to undermine this agreement.” It said that no re-certifying Iran would damage the United State’s credibility with Europe.
“Unilateral U. S. action that jeopardized the [nuclear agreement] would be a grave mistake,” the statement said. “It would make it harder to keep Iran and its region non-nuclear and more difficult for the United States and her Allies to tackle unacceptable Iranian behavior.”
The signatories — who included former British defense secretary George Robertson, former NATO Secretary General Wolfgang Ischinger and a wide range of other political, diplomatic and military figures — warned that not re-certifying Iran would give hardliners more ammunition for their campaign to reduce engagement with the West.
The statement also urged the other parties to the agreement — Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany — to protect the deal in the event if the U. S. backs out and to make clear in public and private that the U. S. would hurt its international standing if it were to re-impose nuclear related sanctions on Iran.
During a public briefing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York Monday afternoon, Trump was asked if he planned to keep the U. S. in the nuclear deal.
“You’ll see very soon,” he said. “You’ll be seeing very soon.”
