Hunt insists Iran deal is ‘not dead yet’
Foreign Secretary admits UK is at odds with US over Tehran strategy but says both are working for peace
Jeremy Hunt has said that the Iran nuclear deal can still be saved, as Britain, France and Germany urged the US to de-escalate tensions with Tehran. President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran after pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The Foreign Secretary insisted the deal was “not dead yet”, despite Iran breaching a cap for uranium enrichment. “We think there is a closing but small window to keep the deal alive,” he said in Brussels.
JEREMY HUNT said yesterday that the Iran nuclear deal can still be saved, as Britain, France and Germany urged the US to de-escalate tension with Tehran.
Donald Trump, the US president, reimposed sanctions on Iran after pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The UK and the EU supports the deal, which lifts sanctions on Tehran in return for Iran not pursuing its nuclear weapons programme, but Mr Trump has strongly criticised the agreement.
The Foreign Secretary, who is running to become the next prime minister, insisted the deal was “not dead yet”, despite Iran breaching a cap for uranium enrichment because it believes the agreement is not delivering the promised economic benefits.
“We think there is a closing but small window to keep the deal alive,” Mr Hunt said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels before insisting that there would be a response to Iran breaching the cap.
He warned that if Iran developed nuclear weapons, it could spark a “very, very toxic and dangerous” atomic arms race in the Middle East.
Mr Hunt admitted that Britain and the US disagreed on the way to convince Iran to denuclearise but said the two countries would continue to work together to ensure peace.
He said Iran was “a good year away from developing a nuclear weapon”.
Mr Hunt told his European counterparts that Britain supported the deal but underlined that Iran could not be “partially compliant” with it.
It came as Britain, France and Germany released a joint statement urging Iran and the US “to pause and consider the possible consequences of their actions”. French diplomats believe Iranian hardliners are attempting to scupper the efforts of Emmanuel Macron, the French president, who is leading EU efforts to ease tensions and
‘The US knows we consider them our closest ally. This is one very rare occasion when we disagree’
save the nuclear deal. Iran detained Fariba Adelkhah, a Franco-iranian dual national, and France has yet to be given “satisfactory information” on her status, France’s foreign ministry said yesterday. Washington has threatened further sanctions while Tehran, which recently shot down a US drone, has said it will breach the deal further unless steps are taken to protect its economy from American sanctions.
Leaks of diplomatic cables over the weekend revealed that Britain’s ambassador to the US believed Mr Trump pulled out of the Iran deal simply to spite Barack Obama. “We have a different view as to how we keep the region denuclearised,” Mr Hunt said.
“The thing that we agree with the Americans on is that the long-term solution to the tensions in the Middle East is an Iran that ceases destabilising activity. What the US knows is that we consider them our closest ally,” he added. “This is one of the very rare occasions when we do disagree but that doesn’t mean we don’t work very closely with them to pursue peace.”
Federica Mogherini, the EU’S foreign affairs chief, said that all 28 foreign ministers unanimously agreed that the deal must be saved and improved.
She claimed there was widespread support for a delayed measure to shield EU companies from US sanctions if they continued to operate in Iran and that the EU did not see the breaching of uranium caps as “significant” noncompliance so the deal’s dispute resolution mechanism would not be triggered.