Pence accuses UK of bid to break Iran sanctions

VICE-PRESIDENT Mike Pence has accused Britain, France and Germany of trying to “break” US sanctions against Iran.

In an unusually blunt speech to a Middle East conference in Poland, Mr Pence called on European nations to join the US in withdrawing from the landmark 2015 Iranian nuclear deal.

He criticised 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 reimposed tough sanctions on Iran.

The criticism threatened to further chill US-European ties, which have already been badly strained, including over the Iran focus of the Warsaw conference co-hosted by the US and Poland.

France and Germany declined to send their top diplomats to the foreign minister-level meeting and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini also stayed away.

Mr 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.

He 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 co-operative,” Mr Pence said. “In fact, they have led the effort to create mechanisms to break up our sanctions.”

He said the mechanism, known as the “special purpose vehicle”, is “an effort to break American sanctions against Iran’s murderous regime”.

“It’s an ill-advised step that that will only strengthen Iran, weaken the EU, and create still more distance between Europe and the United States.”