Brussels, 22/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 21 January, the French, British and German foreign ministers - Laurent Fabius, Philip Hammond and Frank-Walter Steinmeier respectively - and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini spoke of their opposition to taking new sanctions out against Iran. Talks on the Iranian nuclear programme are still ongoing.
The US Congress plans on adopting a draft law which would involve imposing new sanctions on Tehran if the negotiations on the nuclear programme did not end successfully on 31 June 2015 - the deadline set for an agreement. The draft US law, should it be ratified, would risk causing the breakdown of the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear programme.
“Our responsibility is to make sure diplomacy is given the best possible chance to succeed. Maintaining pressure on Iran through our existing sanctions is essential. But introducing new hurdles at this critical stage of the negotiations, including through additional nuclear-related sanctions legislation on Iran, would jeopardise our efforts at a critical juncture”, the three ministers and Mogherini stated in the Washington Post. They say that they do not want to give fresh arguments to those Iranians who are opposed to any nuclear agreement. “New sanctions at this moment might also fracture the international coalition that has made sanctions so effective so far. Rather than strengthening our negotiating position, new sanctions legislation at this point would set us back”, they added.
“For the first time, however, we may have a real chance to resolve one of the world's long-standing security threats - and the chance to do it peacefully. We can't let that chance pass us by or do anything to derail our progress. We have a historic opportunity that might not come again (…) We must demonstrate our commitment to diplomacy to try to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue within the deadline we have set”, the ministers and Mogherini concluded.
During a press conference in Washington on Wednesday 21 January, Mogherini asked “everybody to give these negotiations - this diplomatic channel - a chance, especially when it comes to the end of the negotiations. It would be a waste - a shame, I would say - to avoid the last developments of this to try and reach some results”. She asked “everybody to do this last mile of effort that could bring some results”. (CG)