Reuters: Efforts by European Ambassadors in Washington to Garner Congressional Support for the JCPOA

Reuters reports that the ambassadors of France, Germany, and the UK, along with the EU ambassador in Washington, have initiated new efforts to gain support from members of the U.S. Congress for the nuclear agreement with Iran. Sources from the European embassies in Washington told Reuters that a meeting took place on Wednesday evening, October 4, between the ambassadors of the three European countries and the EU ambassador with Senator Richard Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate. According to the report, several officials from the Barack Obama administration also attended the meeting, including Wendy Sherman, former Deputy Secretary of State, and Ernest Moniz and Jack Lew, two former U.S. Secretaries. Meanwhile, a British embassy official told Reuters that Kim Darroch, the British ambassador to the U.S., along with the ambassadors of Germany, France, and the EU, visited the U.S. Congress on Wednesday to express Europe's position regarding the nuclear agreement with Iran to both Democratic and Republican representatives. The report indicates that Donald Trump, the President of the United States, is required to announce his opinion on Iran's compliance with the JCPOA this month. Under U.S. congressional law, the U.S. government must confirm Iran's compliance or non-compliance with the JCPOA in a report to lawmakers every 90 days. According to Reuters, senior White House officials say that Donald Trump is likely moving towards a position that will ultimately lead to the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear agreement with Iran, although some in the U.S. government do not agree with this approach. An American official told Reuters that Donald Trump is likely to speak on October 12 regarding the U.S. approach to the nuclear agreement with Iran, but no final decision has been made in this regard. In this context, Rex Tillerson, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated on Wednesday that he would present options to the President regarding the approach to the JCPOA. Tillerson did not provide details about potential options. He also declined to directly answer whether he shares the same view as James Mattis, who told the Senate on Tuesday that Iran has 'fundamentally' complied with the nuclear agreement. Meanwhile, some Republicans in the U.S. Congress have urged Donald Trump not to confirm Iran's compliance with the JCPOA. In this context, Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, reiterated his call on Trump not to confirm Iran's compliance with the nuclear agreement during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations on Tuesday night, October 3. He stated that some provisions of the nuclear agreement with Iran should be changed to not only address U.S. national security concerns but also to alleviate the concerns of U.S. allies in the Middle East. Iran and six world powers signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in July 2015. Under this agreement, Iran halted parts of its nuclear program in exchange for the suspension of nuclear sanctions against it. If the Trump administration does not confirm Iran's compliance with the nuclear agreement, Congress has 60 days to either keep the nuclear sanctions against Iran suspended or reinstate them. U.S. officials say Tehran is not adhering to the spirit of the agreement, as the JCPOA calls for the establishment of peace and political and regional stability, and Iran has not complied with these provisions.