Boris Johnson admits the West’s pact with Iran is ‘a bad deal’ as he, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron call to open talks on a new nuclear deal
BRITAIN, Germany and France last night called for Iran to open talks on a new nuclear deal in a major admission the old one has failed.
Boris Johnson met Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron for urgent talks in the side lines of a UN summit in New York.
In a joint statement afterwards, the three leaders – dubbed the E3 – said: “The time has come for Iran to accept negotiation on a long-term framework for its nuclear programme”.
The trio also insisted the new talks should work to end Iran’s destabilising role in states like Syria and tackle its missile programmes.
The landmark JCPOA agreement was struck with Teheran in 2015 for it to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme.
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But US President Donald Trump controversially pulled the US out of it two years ago, and slapped biting sanctions on the country.
Last month Iran also ripped it up and started to enrich uranium again, triggering a fresh Middle East crisis.
A senior UK government official added: “What this is about is achieving compliance.
“It is a fact that Iran is not complying with its commitments at the moment”.
In a TV interview with NBC, Boris also last night declared the the four year-old agreement with Iran was “a bad deal”.
Mr Johnson said: “The reality is, as President Trump rightly said, it was a bad deal.
“It had many defects. Iran was and is behaving disruptively in the region.
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“But I think there’s an opportunity now if everyone can de-escalate for us all - that’s to say the Europeans, the UK, plus the United States and others - to look at a successor to that deal.”
Heaping praise on the US boss, he added: “I think there’s one guy who can do a better deal and one guy who understands how to get a difficult partner like Iran over the line, and that is the President of the United States.
“So I hope that there will be a Trump deal, to be totally honest with you.”
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