German Foreign Minister Promises Berlin Will Strive to Preserve the JCPOA

The German Foreign Minister stated that Berlin, despite its negative views on Iran's missile program and its involvement in the Syrian civil war, will make "significant efforts" to keep the Vienna nuclear agreement intact. According to the Associated Press, Heiko Maas, who was visiting Jordan, emphasized the need to distinguish between the nuclear agreement and Iran's other activities. Under the nuclear agreement, Iran limited its nuclear activities and allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to have greater oversight of its facilities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against Tehran. However, U.S. President Donald Trump, dissatisfied with the agreement and considering it detrimental, has given European countries a deadline to impose stricter measures against Iran by mid-May, or Washington will withdraw from the agreement. In this context, France, Britain, and Germany have tried to persuade EU countries to impose new sanctions on Iran to preserve the JCPOA, but reports indicate that some countries, including Italy, Austria, and Spain, have resisted this demand. The proposed sanctions by Berlin, Paris, and London against Iran relate to its missile activities and its intervention in Syrian events, including a list of individuals and entities involved. Iran has called the actions of European powers a "major miscalculation" and emphasized that this will negatively impact the survival of the nuclear agreement. The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Thursday the remarks of Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, who warned that if the JCPOA collapses, Iran will show a special response to those who disrupt the agreement. Salehi stated, "Of course, we are never seeking such a situation [the collapse of the JCPOA]. We are seriously pursuing the preservation of our national interests and sovereignty, but if the U.S. withdraws and Europe and other major powers retreat from this agreement, we will certainly act differently." Donald Trump has set four conditions for the U.S. to continue its participation in the JCPOA, which include "immediate access" for international inspectors to all Iranian locations and facilities, making restrictions on Iran's nuclear program permanent, ensuring no approach to nuclear weapons, and limiting Iran's long-range missile program; as Trump stated, the long-range missile program and Iran's nuclear weapons program are "inseparable."