Germany rejects US call to leave Iran nuclear deal

AFP  |  Munich (Germany) 

on Friday rejected an appeal by US for Europeans to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal and isolate

defended the 2015 agreement under which drastically scaled back its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.

"Together with the Brits, French and the entire EU we have found ways to keep in the nuclear agreement until today," Maas told the Munich Security Conference.

A day earlier, Pence accused of planning a "new Holocaust" with its opposition to and regional ambitions in Syria, Lebanon, and

Maas said that "our goal remains an without nuclear weapons, precisely because we see clearly how Iran is destabilising the region".

Without this agreement, "the region will not be safer and would actually be one step closer to an open confrontation," he added.

Pence at a conference on the in on Thursday denounced the retention by the Europeans of the nuclear agreement.

He also criticised the initiative of France, and Britain to allow European companies to continue operating in Iran despite US sanctions.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sat, February 16 2019. 00:10 IST