Nuclear deal parties not ready to launch dispute mechanism against Iran, prefer more diplomacy: EU
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The remaining parties to the Iran nuclear deal do not see Tehran’s breaches as significant and do not intend for now to trigger the pact’s dispute mechanism, preferring more diplomacy to ease the crisis, the EU foreign policy chief said on Monday.
She spoke at the end of an European Union foreign ministers meeting after Britain said there was only a “small window” of time to salvage the deal, while Iran warned it would ramp up uranium enrichment if the EU failed to do more to that end.
U.S.-Iranian tensions have escalated since U.S. President Donald Trump decided last year to abandon the nuclear deal under which Iran agreed to curtail its atomic program in return for relief from economic sanctions crippling its economy.
The EU ministers drew no conclusions on what action should next be taken to head off a feared U.S.-Iranian conflict. But by suggesting that Iran’s non-compliance was not significant, it could anger the United States, which last week warned it would intensify sanctions on Iran over its breaches, and it did prompt an immediate outcry from Israel, Iran’s regional arch-enemy.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-iran-eu/britain-sees-small-window-to-save-nuclear-deal-iran-presses-europe-to-act-idUSKCN1UA0VQ