EU ministers defend Iran deal

Zarif said that Trump showed an “absence of any strategy” vis-a-vis Iran and repeated that Iranian defense and missile programs would never be subject to negotiation.

No tougher approach to Iran

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that he was opposed to a “tougher” approach toward Iran.

Speaking to TF1 and LCI in his first live TV interview since taking office, the French president said he had told Trump not to scrap the Iran deal.

Macron said Trump “wants to get tougher with Iran. I told him I thought this was the wrong approach because we have to look at where we are now with North Korea.”

The French leader said he had criticized the US president’s Iran policy as a “bad method.”

He also threw his weight behind Iran’s nuclear accord and spoke of imminent plans to visit the country.

But in further remarks, he said, “What I told him (Trump) was not to tear up the deal. After that I told him, ‘Let’s have a demanding dialogue, let’s continue to conduct checks, but let’s be much more demanding with Iran on its ballistic missile activity’.”

JCPOA working efficiently

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said JCPOA is working “quite efficiently” and requires no amendment, dismissing calls by the United States to address “flaws” in the deal.

Ryabkov said that there was an American saying that goes “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

“That’s what I would like to address to colleagues in the United States,” the Russian diplomat said.

Iran is fully compliant with the deal, while the US is not, Ryabkov said. “What is to be improved in this context is the implementation of the existing agreements by the US side,” he added.

He also noted that by fully upholding their end of the bargain, the Iranians “have passed the ball to the US side.”

Reuters, AFP, Bloomberg and Press TV contributed to this story.