WASHINGTON — European envoys to the United States said today that US President Donald Trump has already succeeded in changing the conversation on Iran and that he doesn’t need to rip up the nuclear deal.
“In a sense, this administration has changed the climate on Iran,” British Ambassador Kim Darroch said at a panel of four European ambassadors at the Atlantic Council. “It is succeeding. … But let’s keep the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action].”
Darroch said he has noticed an intensification of contacts over the past couple of months between the Europeans and experts within the US administration on how to increase the pressure on Iran. The Western allies broadly share Washington’s concerns about Iran’s support for militant proxy groups in the region such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Iran's support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iran's ballistic missile testing.
The ambassadors from France, the United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union spoke ahead of an Oct. 15 deadline for Trump to certify to Congress whether the Iran nuclear deal advances US national security interests. Trump has hinted he is unlikely to do so. If he decertifies, Congress has 60 days to decide whether to vote to reimpose nuclear-related US sanctions waived under the accord in exchange for Iran’s rollback of its nuclear program.
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