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Merkel: Everyone in EU agrees it is essential to stick to the Iran deal

On May 8, US President Donald Trump declared Washington’s withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal

SOFIA, May 17. /TASS/. The European Union believes that the Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA) should remain in force, despite its drawbacks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at an EU - Western Balkans summit in Sofia on Thursday.

"Everyone in the EU agrees that is not ideal, but we should stay in it and on this basis conduct negotiations with Iran on other issues, for example on the ballistic missile program," the German chancellor noted.

On May 8, US President Donald Trump declared Washington’s withdrawal from the JCPOA, a deal that restricted Tehran’s nuclear developments in exchange for the abolishment of corresponding sanctions of the UN Security Council and unilateral restrictive measures earlier introduced by the US and EU. Trump promised to reintroduce the old sanctions and launch new ones. He also stated that the US is ready to ink a new agreement.