Joint statement from Prime Minister Theresa May, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron following President Trump’s statement on Iran

Wednesday, 9 May 2018 00:02

Joint statement from Prime Minister Theresa May, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron following President Trump’s statement on Iran Together, we emphasise our continuing commitment to the JCPoA. This agreement remains important for our shared security. We recall that the JCPoA was unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council in resolution 2231. This resolution remains the binding international legal framework for the resolution of the dispute about the Iranian...Request free trial

Joint statement from Prime Minister Theresa May, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron following President Trump’s statement on Iran

Together, we emphasise our continuing commitment to the JCPoA. This agreement remains important for our shared security. We recall that the JCPoA was unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council in resolution 2231. This resolution remains the binding international legal framework for the resolution of the dispute about the Iranian nuclear programme. We urge all sides to remain committed to its full implementation and to act in a spirit of responsibility.

According to the IAEA, Iran continues to abide by the restrictions set out by the JCPoA, in line with its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The world is a safer place as a result. Therefore we, the E3, will remain parties to the JCPoA. Our governments remain committed to ensuring the agreement is upheld, and will work with all the remaining parties to the deal to ensure this remains the case including through ensuring the continuing economic benefits to the Iranian people that are linked to the agreement.

We urge the US to ensure that the structures of the JCPoA can remain intact, and to avoid taking action which obstructs its full implementation by all other parties to the deal. After engaging with the US Administration in a thorough manner over the past months, we call on the US to do everything possible to preserve the gains for nuclear non-proliferation brought about by the JCPoA, by allowing for a continued enforcement of its main elements.
We encourage Iran to show restraint in response to the decision by the US; Iran must continue to meet its own obligations under the deal, cooperating fully and in a timely manner with IAEA inspection requirements. The IAEA must be able to continue to carry out its long-term verification and monitoring programme without restriction or hindrance. In turn, Iran should continue to receive the sanctions relief it is entitled to whilst it remains in compliance with the terms of the deal.

There must be no doubt: Iran’s nuclear program must always remain peaceful and civilian. While taking the JCPOA as a base, we also agree that other major issues of concern need to be addressed. A long-term framework for Iran’s nuclear programme after some of the provisions of the JCPOA expire, after 2025, will have to be defined. Because our commitment to the security of our allies and partners in the region is unwavering, we must also address in a meaningful way shared concerns about Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its destabilising regional activities, especially in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. We have already started constructive and mutually beneficial discussions on these issues, and the E3 is committed to continuing them with key partners and concerned states across the region.
We and our Foreign Ministers will reach out to all parties to the JCPoA to seek a positive way forward.

Emily Thornberry MP, Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary, responding to President Trump's announcement on the future of the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action with Iran, said:

"The whole world should stand united in condemning this reckless, senseless and immoral act of diplomatic sabotage by Donald Trump; one which immediately risks plunging the Middle East into deeper destruction, chaos and conflict.

"As every independent inspection has confirmed, the nuclear deal is working; Iran is complying in full; and it is simply false that Iran is continuing its nuclear programme.

"On the back of the success of this deal, we also have a platform to make real progress with Iran on other issues, including its ballistic missile programme, its regional activities, and its record on human rights.

"If the nuclear deal is torn up, we not only destroy that platform for future progress, we risk triggering a rapid nuclear arms race in the Middle East, we risk the hardline theocrats seizing all the reins of power in Tehran, and we risk the descent into an unimaginable conflict with Iran, a country nine times the size of Syria, with a population as big as Germany's.

"Donald Trump is taking all those risks without a single care, without the slightest justification, and without the simplest rational thought as to what will come next.

"In doing so, he is also telling North Korea that there is no point negotiating an agreement with the US on denuclearisation, because it will not be worth the paper it is written on.

"The fact that Donald Trump has announced America’s exit from the Iran nuclear deal in the most destructive and immediate way possible shows how determined he is to scupper any chance of keeping the deal on track.

"Nevertheless, that is what Britain, the EU, China and Russia must now try to do. We urge Iran not to respond in kind to this confrontational act, but strain every sinew working with the other signatories to try and save the deal, stop firms trading with Iran from facing financial penalties, and prevent a descent into conflict.

"More broadly, if we did not know it before, what today’s announcement confirms is that – as long as Donald Trump remains President – we must get used to a world without American leadership.

"A world where efforts to secure peace and progress on the great challenges facing the planet must be made not just without American cooperation, but often in the face of this administration’s active opposition. That is the task we now face in relation to Iran, and the UK Government must show it is up to it."

Responding to President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake said:

"Trump's decision to scrap US participation in the Iran nuclear deal is reckless and short-sighted. The deal is far from perfect, but it is better to work with partners to make changes than to pull out altogether and risk heightened tensions in the Middle East.

"Trump's careless actions serve as another reminder of the enormous value of our EU partners. Iran has signalled that it is willing to consider upholding its end of the nuclear deal if other partners remain party to the agreement.

"Boris Johnson's attempts to reason with Trump fell on deaf ears, but together with our EU partners it is possible that the Iran nuclear deal can be upheld and an escalation in tensions can be avoided.