EU resolved to preserve Iran nuclear deal after US withdrawal: Mogherini

The European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says the bloc is determined to save a 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement signed between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries despite the United States' move to withdraw from the deal.

According to Press TV, Mogherini was speaking to reporters on Monday upon her arrival at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels ahead of a meeting of the EU foreign ministers. This is the first meeting on ministerial level following the US pullout from the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"Today on the agenda of the foreign ministers, we have first and foremost our work to preserve the nuclear deal with Iran," she said.

She added, "You know that we have been acting already at European Union level to put in place a set of measures to make sure that the nuclear agreement is preserved and the economic investments from the European side, but also from other sides in the world are protected."

She noted that the EU foreign ministers plan to hold talks on the issue so that they would be able to "contribute and compliment on their side to the measures that we have put in place on the level of the European Union."

Mogherini further said she would inform the ministers on the "good" meeting of the Joint Commission held in Vienna on Friday at the level of deputy ministers of all signatories to the JCPOA except the US and also Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano, who "certified for the eleventh time that Iran is fully compliant with all its nuclear-related commitments on the deal."

In a report shown to the media on Thursday, the IAEA said Iran is observing the key restrictions under the nuclear agreement and called on the Islamic Republic to remain compliant with the JCPOA and even go beyond its legal obligations in order to boost international confidence in Tehran's commitments.

Mogherini also said the 28-nation bloc has been "working enormously these weeks" with Iran, France, Germany, Britain and other member states as well as some other international partners.

"The European Union decisions are taken by Europeans, are not exposed to decisions taken elsewhere and we have the instruments to accompany and protect our economic investments, especially when they match our security interests," she added.

"This is the exercise we are doing; nobody believes it is going to be an easy exercise, but we are determined to do it," the senior EU official pointed out.

SS