‘World needs constructive dialogue with Iran’

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has reiterated the global need for engaging with Iran on sensitive issues, including crises in the West Asian countries.

According to Press TV, a post on German Foreign Office’s official page on Twitter late on Saturday read “We need a constructive dialogue with Iran on political solutions for #Syria and #Yemen.”

Maas made the remarks after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Munich, Germany, where the two diplomats were attending a global security conference.

The German foreign minister also reiterated after the meeting with Zarif that his country, as a signatory to a landmark international agreement on Iran’s nuclear activities, would remain committed to the deal despite pressure from the US government.

“We adhere to #JCPOA, as long as Iran does so,” said Maas in his tweet, making a reference to the nuclear agreement by its official name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

We need a constructive dialogue with Iran on political solutions for #Syria and #Yemen, says Foreign Minister @HeikoMaas after his talk with Foreign Minister #Zarif. We adhere to #JCPOA, as long as Iran does so. 

— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) February 16, 2019

The comments on the JCPOA comes amid efforts by three powerful members of the European Union, namely Germany, France and Britain, to save the agreement some four years after it was signed in Austria.

US President Donald Trump pulled out of the JCPOA last May in a move widely criticized in the international community. The three EU countries announced earlier this month the launch of a special financial mechanism to protect trade with Iran in the face of US sanctions.

Maas said Friday that Europe would seek to keep the deal alive.

“Together with the Brits, French and the entire EU we have found ways to keep Iran in the nuclear agreement until today,” he said while addressing the Munich Security Conference.

ME