Mogherini: EU to do whatever possible to keep deal alive
German Chancellor Angela Merkel robustly defended the European powers’ decision to stand by the Iran nuclear deal in the face of US criticism as she delivered a spirited backing Saturday of her multilateral approach to global affairs.
Merkel’s comments at the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of top global defense and foreign policy officials, followed days of tension between Washington and Europe over Iran.
In Poland this week, US Vice President Mike Pence accused Germany, France and Britain of trying to “break” American sanctions on Iran and called on them to follow Washington in pulling out of the nuclear deal — a call that he renewed Saturday, speaking shortly after Merkel. The three European powers, along with Russia, China and the US, signed the 2015 agreement meant to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
Merkel appealed for global cooperation on a range of issues including the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.
She questioned whether the US decision to leave the agreement was the best way to address issues in the Middle East.
“The only question is how we attain our mutual goal… Do we do that by terminating our agreement, or do we help it more by keeping the small anchor we have (via the nuclear deal)?” she asked.
Attacks by Jaish al-adl, or “Army of Justice,” have increased in recent years. Since its founding in 2012, it has abducted or killed border guards in hit-and-run assaults from its havens in Pakistan. It kidnapped 11 Iranian border guards in October. Five later were returned to Iran and six remained held.
Jafari said Iran expects Pakistan to “punish” the group, which allegedly has taken refuge in southwestern Pakistan. “If they do not punish them, our retaliatory measures will be carried out,” he said.
The general said the Pakistani government knows where the attackers are harbored and accused Pakistan security forces of supporting them. He warned Pakistan it would “pay a heavy price” for harboring the terrorists.
“Why do Pakistan’s Army and security body ... give refuge to these anti-revolutionary groups? Pakistan will no doubt pay a high price,” Jafari said.
“Just in the past year, six or seven suicide attacks were neutralized but they were able to carry out this one,” he told the mourners. Tehran immediately linked Wednesday’s attack to a Us-led conference in Warsaw largely focused on Iran, just two days after the nation marked the 40th anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The bomb struck a bus traveling on a road between the cities of Khash and Zahedan, a mountainous region along the Pakistani border that is also near Afghanistan. Images after the blast published by semi-official news agencies showed the explosion tore the bus apart, as passers-by used the light of their cellphones to illuminate the debris.
The IRGC issued a statement saying a vehicle loaded with explosives targeted a bus carrying border guards affiliated with its force.
AP and Reuters contributed to this story.