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Merkel calls US decision to quit Iran nuclear deal 'wrong'

On May 8, US President Donald Trump announced Washington’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal

German Chancellor Angela Merkel AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

German Chancellor Angela Merkel

© AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

BERLIN, May 16. /TASS/. The Iran nuclear deal is not perfect, but it was wrong of the US to withdraw from it, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in parliament on Wednesday.

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"This agreement is not perfect, but, according to the IAEA, Iran abides by its commitments," the chancellor noted.

The chancellor recalled that the UN member-countries voted for that document, and it took years to agree on the deal. "We - the UK, France, Germany and the EU as a whole - believe that it was wrong to withdraw from the agreement under such circumstances," she noted.

According to Merkel, there are some points of contention in relations between the European Union and Tehran, including Iran’s ballistic missile program. The situation will not improve after Washington’s withdrawal from the deal, she added.

On May 8, US President Donald Trump announced Washington’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal as it, he argued, leaves Iran a possibility to create a nuclear bomb bypassing all the restrictions. He said another agreement with Iran should be signed.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the deal on Iran’s nuclear program, was signed between Iran and six international mediators (the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Russia, the United States, and France) on July 14, 2015. On January 16, 2016, the parties to the deal announced beginning of its implementation. Under the deal, Iran undertakes to curb its nuclear activities and place them under total control of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in exchange for removal of the sanctions imposed previously by the United Nations Security Council, the European Union and the United States over its nuclear program.

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