Quit Iran N-deal, back US curbs, Pence tells Europe
warsaw — The Trump administration lashed out at some of America’s closest traditional allies on Thursday, accusing Britain, France and Germany of trying to “break” US sanctions against Iran and calling on European nations to join the United States in withdrawing from the landmark 2015 Iranian nuclear accord.
In an unusually blunt speech to a Middle East conference in Poland, Vice-President Mike Pence slammed the three countries and the European Union as a whole for remaining parties to the agreement after the Trump administration withdrew from it last year and re-imposed tough sanctions on Iran. Pence was especially critical of Britain, France and Germany for unveiling last month a new financial mechanism that US officials believe is intended to keep the nuclear deal alive by evading American sanctions.
Pence praised other nations for complying with the sanctions by reducing Iranian oil imports but said the Europeans fell short.
“Sadly, some of our leading European partners have not been nearly as cooperative,” Pence said. “In fact, they have led the effort to create mechanisms to break up our sanctions.” —
warsaw — US Vice-President Mike Pence demanded on Thursday that Europeans drop a nuclear deal with Iran and join in seeking to cripple the regime.
Pence took direct aim at allies Britain, France and Germany, denouncing their new initiative to let European companies operate in Iran in defiance of unilateral US sanctions.
“It’s an ill-advised step that will only strengthen Iran, weaken the EU and creates still more distance between Europe and the United States,” he said.
“The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and join with us,” he said.
The Warsaw conference is timed just as Iran’s clerical regime celebrates 40 years since the Islamic revolution ousted the pro-US shah.
Pence stopped just short of calling for regime change in Iran, which has been comparatively stable in recent years amid unrest throughout the Middle East.
Pence threatened further US sanctions as “the people of Iran take to the streets” and its “economy continues to plummet”.
He accused Iran of plotting a “new Holocaust” with its opposition to Israel and regional ambitions in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. “Freedom-loving nations must stand together and hold the
Freedom-loving nations must stand together and hold the Iranian regime accountable for the evil and violence it has inflicted on its people, on the region and the wider world.
The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and join with us Mike Pence, US Vice-President
Iranian regime accountable for the evil and violence it has inflicted on its people, on the region and the wider world,” Pence said.
Pence tacitly acknowledged that Iran is in compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal but said the issue was the accord itself, brokered under Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama.
European leaders say the agreement was never meant to address all concerns with Iran and that Tehran is hardly the only problematic player in the region.
“Europe is not divided on the issue of Iran. Europe supports the nuclear accord with Iran,” German
foreign ministry official Niels Annen told reporters. Another senior official from a major European power said “we strongly disagree” with Pence’s remarks and said that other regional issues such as Syria and Yemen would be even more difficult to resolve if Iran is isolated.
“We are strongly against coalition-building and a coercion-only
approach,” he said. Poland — which is eager to please the United States amid fears of a resurgent Russia — said it also backed the nuclear deal but that it was important to raise concerns.
“The discussion showed that the EU and the United States shared the diagnosis of the situation, and have similar views regarding the problems in the Middle
East, and also, let’s say it openly — the negative role played by Iran,” Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said at the close of the conference.
Earlier, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Iran the top security threat to the Middle East, and said confronting the country is key to reaching peace in the entire region. —