500 Representatives from Germany, Britain, and France Urge U.S. Congress to Support JCPOA

500 representatives from the parliaments of Germany, France, and Britain have written a letter to members of the U.S. Congress urging them to support the nuclear agreement (JCPOA) between Iran and six world powers and to prevent the U.S. from withdrawing from the deal. This letter comes less than a month before the deadline set by U.S. President Donald Trump to address the 'flaws' in the JCPOA. The letter states that the interests of the U.S. and Europe necessitate preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons in a turbulent region. The representatives of the three European parliaments involved in the nuclear agreement with Iran also refer to the JCPOA as a significant diplomatic achievement to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. They wrote that the JCPOA has led to unprecedented inspections of Iran's nuclear program, the decommissioning of a large portion of Iran's enrichment facilities, and a significant reduction in the risk of a nuclear arms race. The representatives, whose letter was published in major Western newspapers, claim that dismantling the JCPOA would become another source of destructive conflicts in the Middle East and beyond. This letter was released ahead of the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the U.S. for discussions with Donald Trump. Trump has set a deadline of May 12 for addressing the 'flaws' in the JCPOA, failing which he will not extend the suspension of sanctions on Iran as per the JCPOA. Meanwhile, a U.S. disarmament representative expressed optimism on Thursday regarding the effectiveness of European countries' efforts to alleviate Trump's concerns about the JCPOA. Trump has outlined four conditions for the U.S. to continue its participation in the JCPOA, which include 'immediate' access for international inspectors to all sites and facilities in Iran, making the limitations on Iran's nuclear program permanent, ensuring that Iran does not approach nuclear weapons, and limiting Iran's ballistic missile program. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has warned that if the U.S. withdraws from the nuclear agreement with the six world powers, it will have 'very unpleasant' consequences for Washington.