European officials push back at Pompeo’s anti-Iranian positions

Tabnak – Almost two weeks after the United States President Donald Trump’s controversial decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, his secretary of state called for what he considers as necessary changes in Iran’s behaviors. The remarks however has faced with a negative reaction from various sides.

In this vein, the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has stressed that there is no "alternative" to the Iran nuclear deal, after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed "painful" sanctions against Tehran.

"Secretary Pompeo's speech has not demonstrated how walking away from the JCPOA (nuclear deal) has made or will make the region safer from the threat of nuclear proliferation or how it puts us in a better position to influence Iran's conduct in areas outside the scope of JCPOA," said Mogherini in a statement released on Monday.

Mogherini went on to emphasize that "there is no alternative" to the JCPOA, while calling on the US to honor its commitments to the deal.

"This deal belongs to the international community, having been endorsed by the United Nations Security Council. The international community expects all sides to keep the commitments they made more than two years ago," she added.

She also noted that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has on multiple occasions confirmed that Iran has implemented "all its nuclear related commitments" under the agreement.

On the other hand, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has questioned the practicality of the tough conditions set by the US for a new “jumbo” Iran deal. Johnson made the statement among journalists in Buenos Aires on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday.

“The prospect of a new jumbo Iran treaty is going to be very, very difficult,” Johnson said, according to the Guardian. “I think if you try now to fold all those issues – the ballistic missiles, Iran’s misbehavior, Iran’s disruptive activity in the region and the nuclear question — if you try to fold all those in to a giant negotiation, a new jumbo Iran negotiation, a new treaty — that’s what seems to be envisaged — I don’t see that being very easy to achieve, in anything like a reasonable timetable.”

As such, Johnson lashed out against the new US plans, reiterating that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is a good deal as it assures the international community that Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons.

“The advantage of the JCPOA was that it had a very clear objective. It protected the world from an Iranian nuclear bomb, and in return it gave the Iranians some recognizable economic benefits. That was at the core of it. The Americans have walked away from that,” he said.

Earlier yesterday, Pompeo said that Washington would increase financial pressure on Iran by imposing the "strongest sanctions in history" on the Islamic Republic if Tehran refuses to change the course of its foreign and domestic policy.