EU foreign ministers hold emergency meeting on Iran crisis, nuclear deal

Foreign ministers for the EU states are holding an emergency meeting on Friday to seek ways to guide the United States and Iran away from confrontation, Reuters reported.

President Donald Trump had earlier urged European allies to “break away” from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. However, the EU says it “will spare no effort” in attempts to keep alive the deal, aimed at preventing Iran from developing atomic weapons.

The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, on Thursday defended the crumbling Iran nuclear deal, but warned Tehran against “irreversible acts” that would sink the accord. He also used a phone exchange with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani to call for a de-escalation of tensions, after Tehran carried out missile strikes on US military bases in Iraq in retaliation for the assassination of one of its top generals.

Michel’s office said in its readout of the call with Rouhani that he had insisted “the EU has its own interests and its vision,” implicitly distancing EU capitals from Washington over the issue.