Brussels, 14 October 2017

S&D vice-president Victor Boștinaru MEP states:

“The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran is a success of multilateral diplomacy, a step forward in the fight for nuclear non-proliferation and the result of many important years of negotiations between the European Union, France, Great Britain, Germany, China, Russia, US and Iran. It is useful to remind ourselves that this deal has been thoroughly implemented by the Iranian side, provides the necessary guarantees and monitoring mechanisms, and it has already delivered. Therefore, this deal has to be judged by all on its specific merits.

“Iran is a significant actor in the Middle East and I remain strongly convinced that the normalisation of our relations has not only been in the interests of all sides, but one of the main requirements for achieving stabilisation, security and peace in the Middle East and beyond.

“The decision of the US president to decertify this deal is damaging to the US credibility and interests, especially considering the failure of the North Korean process which clearly constitutes today a nuclear threat for the world. This being said, this decision only opens a US domestic debate and it doesn’t impact on the deal as such.

“Finally, as it was already announced by various leaders, I trust that the European Union, along with all the other partners, remains committed to the JCPOA and that dialogue remains the cornerstone of nuclear non-proliferation.”