Mogherini says not surprised by US response

The European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said on Monday that she was not surprised at what she found out in the letter cabled by US State Department and the US Treasury on the issue of sanctions against Iran, noting that the position of the US indicated that it was not going to do anything new to contribute to preserving the nuclear deal, reported RIA Novosti.

In early June, a source in the EU HQ told RIA Novosti that the foreign and economic ministers of UK, France, and Germany together with Mogherini sent a letter to the US secretary of state and US secretary of the treasury, urging them to remove European companies in key sectors from the blacklist of sanctions on Iran. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a return letter that they want to create "unprecedented financial pressure" on Iran, so there will be no exceptions to sanctions, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

“I read the answer that was also intended for me, I must say that I did not see anything new in the letter about the already pursued US policy - no surprises for the better or the worse ... I do not view this letter as something that brings anything new in our work,” Magerini told reporters on Monday, without disclosing the details of the document.

In 2015, Iran and 5+1 (Russia, US, Britain, China, France, and Germany) reached a historic agreement on the settlement of Iran nuclear energy: the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was adopted, which removes economic and financial sanctions of the UN Security Council, the United States and the European Union in return for Iran limiting its nuclear program.

President of the United States Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington is withdrawing from the agreement with Iran on the nuclear program. He announced that all sanctions against Tehran will get back in place, including secondary ones, that is, with respect to other countries conducting business with Iran. The other members of the sextet (5+1) opposed this step of the United States. The European partners of Washington stated that they intend to continue to observe the terms of the deal with Iran.

YNG/PR