Germany wIll sTIcK To Iran nuclear deal
UNITED NATIONS: German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has said that Berlin is committed to the Iran nuclear deal even though Washington has pulled out.
“The nuclear agreement with Iran may not be perfect. But so far, it has prevented Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and averted an escalation that, three years ago, was highly likely,” Mass told the General Assembly on Friday. “That’s not insignificant,” he said. “We, Europeans, therefore stand together by the agreement.”
“The fact that we stand by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action does not mean that we are turning a blind eye to Iran’s destructive role in the region or to its ballistic missile program,” said the Minister, referring to the July 2015 nuclear deal drawn between Iran and the six nations—Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US. President Donald Trump in May announced his decision to withdraw from the deal and renew sanctions on Iran. Maas also talked about measures to circumvent the US sanctions against Iran. “We are working on keeping economic exchange with Iran possible, and we call on Iran to continue its full commitment.” Earlier on Monday, EU’s foreign Federica Mogherini said that EU will set up a legal entity to facilitate legitimate financial transactions with Iran. Turkey aims to win easier access to the European Union for its citizens, President Tayyip Erdogan said in Berlin on Friday during a state visit that aims to repair relations with Germany after bitter disputes.
Turkey would move to meet the EU’s criteria for achieving visa liberalisation, he said on the second day of a visit also intended to improve ties with the European Union after the freeze that followed a failed coup in 2016.
Facing an economic crisis aggravated by U.S. sanctions, Erdogan is hoping to attract more private investment from the economic superpower on Turkey’s doorstep.
“Visa liberalisation, updating the customs union and reviving accession talks will benefit both Turkey and the EU,” Erdogan said. Germany, home to 3 million ethnic Turks and reliant on Turkey to help contain a migrant crisis beyond Europe’s borders, is also keen to rebuild ties, yet wariness surrounds the three-day state visit on all sides.
With Erdogan due to continue to Cologne, home to one of the largest Turkish communities outside Turkey, on Saturday, authorities there refused permission for a 25,000-strong spillover crowd to gather outside a giant new mosque that he is due to open. The regional government also has to rearrange a morning meeting between North Rhine Westfalia’s premier Armin Laschet and Erdogan after the ancestral owners of the castle that was to be the venue obtained an injunction preventing his visit. Ankara is still smarting at what it sees as Europe’s slowness to condemn the failed coup against Erdogan in 2016, while Germany and EU countries are concerned about the mass arrests that followed, Turkey’s patchy press freedom record and Erdogan’s influence over Turkish diaspora communities in Europe.