(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) BRUSSELS, July 16 (KUNA) -- European Union High Representative Federica Mogherni Monday expressed Europe's determination to preserve the Iran nuclear deal but acknowledged that they are facing difficulties and is not certain if their efforts will succeed.
"It is a difficult exercise because the weight of the US in the global economy and financial sector is obviously relevant. But we are determined to preserve this deal," Mogherni stated in a conference after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
US President Donald Trump announced in May that he is withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal also known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and would re-impose economic sanctions that were waived when the deal was signed in 2015 by the five permanent members of the UNSC plus Germany with Iran. "We are working full speed," she said and noted that technical work is ongoing on the Iran nuclear deal in the banking and financial sectors, the oil and SMEs.
"I cannot say if our efforts together with other efforts are going to be enough," declared the EU foreign policy chief.
"We believe this is absolutely in our security interest, in the security interest of the region and of the world. We are doing all we can and we will continue to do all we can to try and prevent this deal from being dismantled because we believe that the consequences of this will be catastrophic for all," warned Mogherini.
She said the EU Foreign Ministers also addressed the situation in Gaza and said the situation is "very worrying escalation with the heaviest rocket fire and Israeli attacks since 2014." "We all agreed to use all our channels to urge the parties to take a step back, stop the violence, prevent another war, alleviate the situation for the people on the ground," she said.
Mogherini briefed the ministers on her visit to Libya on Saturday where she inaugurated the EU embassy in Tripoli. She noted that 350 million euro (USD 409 million) of EU funded programmers are currently ongoing in Libya.
She noted that migrant arrivals to the European coast from Libya has gone down by 85 percent compared to last year.
Mogherini said, today's meeting did not discuss the situation in Iraq where demonstrations against the bad economic situation have been reported spreading to several cities. (end) nk.aa
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