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Trump’s
German envoy blasts Europe over Iran
Berlin
meanwhile indicated that Tehran may have taken ‘first step to the end’ of Iran
nuclear deal.
By JUDITH
MISCHKE AND ZOYA SHEFTALOVICH 1/6/20, 11:30 AM CET Updated 1/6/20, 11:32 AM CET
BERLIN —
U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell took aim at European governments for
failing to condemn Tehran over attacks it orchestrated over the past few
months, as he justified America's assassination of Iranian General Qassem
Soleimani.
"When
the West stands together and the West says very clearly that terrorism is wrong
and terrorism should not be used, then that message is heard by the Iranians
and they see a collective force of the West," Grenell told Monday's Der
Podcast. "We have seen the Iranians escalate over the last several months.
And there has been no, or I should say little response from the European
governments."
Referring
to comments made by America's European allies calling for a de-escalation in
the wake of the killing of the leader of Iran’s elite paramilitary forces,
Grenell said: "If you want to de-escalate, and you think that it’s really
important to de-escalate, I would say then you must condemn all the way up the
ladder of escalation, and that was not done."
In a joint
statement released late Sunday, the leaders of Germany, France and the U.K.
said there was an "urgent" need for de-escalation of the situation in
the Middle East, and called on Iran to comply with the nuclear deal.
Grenell
also said Americans "don't want war" with Iran.
His
comments came as Germany indicated that Tehran’s announcement on Sunday that it
would no longer observe any restriction on the number of centrifuges it can
operate, taking another step away from commitments made under the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), could spell the end of the 2015 nuclear
deal. The agreement, struck by Tehran, the EU, the U.K., Germany, France,
China, Russia and the U.S., before President Donald Trump withdrew from the
pact in 2018, was designed to curb Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran's
move, which was "not consistent" with its JCPOA commitments,
"could be the first step to the end of this agreement,” German Foreign
Minister Heiko Maas told Deutschlandfunk radio on Monday. But he added that
abandoning the deal "would be a big loss so we will weigh this up very,
very responsibly now," and stressed that Berlin would "definitely
talk to Iran again."
NATO will
hold a special meeting of the North Atlantic Council Monday afternoon to
address the situation in the Middle East.
Pompeo
gripes about European reaction to Soleimani strike
Assassination
‘saved lives in Europe as well,’ says top US diplomat.
By SARAH
WHEATON 1/4/20, 11:04 AM CET Updated 1/4/20, 11:08 AM CET
U.S.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo complained about European allies’ responses to
the U.S. strike that killed a top Iranian general.
“Frankly,
the Europeans haven't been as helpful as I wish that they could be,"
Pompeo said in an interview late Friday with Fox News, describing his
discussions with allies about the assassination of Major General Qassem
Soleimani in Iraq.
European
leaders have urged restraint in the wake of the killing. While Iranian
provocations had been “dangerous,” German Foreign Minister Maas tweeted on
Friday, for example, “This action has not made it easier to reduce tensions. I
made this point clearly to @SecPompeo as well.”
Pompeo said
the response from U.S. allies in the Middle East had been “fantastic,” while
others “haven’t been quite as good.”
"The
Brits, the French, the Germans all need to understand that what we did, what
the Americans did, saved lives in Europe as well," he said. "This was
a good thing for the entire world, and we are urging everyone in the world to
get behind what the United States is trying to do to get the Islamic Republic
of Iran to simply behave like a normal nation.”
Authors:
Sarah Wheaton
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