EU may pull dispute trigger on Iran nuke deal: Germany

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - The EU may activate the formal dispute mechanism of the Iran nuclear deal if Tehran does not return to full compliance with it, Germany’s foreign minister warned on Monday.

Speaking to reporters in Brussels ahead of an EU foreign ministers meeting, Heiko Maas said Europeans are “gravely concerned” over Iran’s recent move to start enriching uranium at an underground facility.

“We want to preserve the deal, but Iran must finally return to compliance with the agreement, otherwise we reserve the right to use all mechanisms that are set out in the agreement,” he stressed.

Maas said he would meet with his French and British counterparts in Paris later today to discuss further steps to respond to Iran’s non-compliance with the deal.

Germany, France, and the U.K., the three EU parties to the nuclear agreement, so far have held back from triggering the formal dispute mechanism, fearing that this might lead to a complete collapse of the historic deal.

Iran started to cut its commitments to the 2015 nuclear deal in retaliation for the unilateral U.S. withdrawal from the agreement between Tehran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany and the EU.