High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini speaks to the media following a meeting as part of an international conference on the future of Syria and the region in Brussels on April 24, 2018. (Source AFP photo)
The current deal with Iran is working effectively to keep Tehran from developing nuclear weapons and should be preserved for the future, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Wednesday
Mogherini spoke after U.S. President Trump again showed dissatisfaction with the international agreement during a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, highlighting a trans-Atlantic rift on the issue.
Macron said the current deal should not be ripped apart without a clear path to the future, and said after talks with Trump that there could be a way to move to a "new agreement," building on the one in place.
All European actors in the 2015 accord want the United States to stay in the deal aimed at restricting Iran's development of nuclear weapons.
Trump, though, calls the pact "insane" and "ridiculous," although he has declined to say whether he will withdraw the U.S. by the May 12 deadline he has set.
Germany, which was part of the agreement along with Iran, the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France, threw its weight behind Mogherini's position on Wednesday.
"We want to preserve it, and we want to contribute to the United States remaining in this agreement after May 12," said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
Trump said key flaws in the agreement are the failure to address ballistic missiles and Iran's activities in Yemen and Syria. The EU says those are separate issues.
On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned that pulling out would undermine upcoming nuclear talks with North Korea by proving the U.S. reneges on its promises.
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