By Ben Kerrigan-
Boris Johnson has put himself on the diplomatic firing line with The U.S, as he emphasised Britain’s plans of having “no intention of walking away” from the Iran nuclear deal despite the United States pulling out.
The Foreign Secretary was responding to the announcement by U.S president Donald Trump that America was abandoning the deal and would reinstate sanctions against Iran. Labour has accused President Trump of a reckless, senseless and immoral act of diplomatic sabotage”.
Other signatories to the agreement – the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany – say they remain committed to it.
Johnson told MPs the UK would “strive to preserve the gains” made by the international agreement.
The 2015 deal curbed Iran’s nuclear activities in return for the lifting of U.N, U.S and EU sanctions.
US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday he will pull out, describing it as “defective at its core”.
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Mr Johnson had travelled to the United States in a last-minute attempt to persuade the Trump administration not to ditch the deal . On Wednesday, he told MPs the responsibility was now on the president to set out how he plans to secure a new settlement.
“Britain stands ready to support that task, but in the meantime we will strive to preserve the gains made by the [agreement]”, he added.
The foreign secretary said while the UK shared US concerns about Iran, the “painfully negotiated” agreement was effective and had increased the amount of time it would take Tehran to develop nuclear weapons.
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Johnson added thatMr Johnson told the Commons: “The JCPOA is an international agreement painstakingly negotiated over 13 years under both Republican and Democratic institutions and enshrined in UN resolution 2231. Britain has no intention of walking away. the UK would do its utmost to protect British companies from any extra territorial sanctions imposed by the US. He said he would come up with specific proposals in due course after consultations with his European partners, but insisted the dispute with the US would not affect wider Anglo-American relations.
A watchdog has reported nine times that Iran had complied with the terms of the agreement, he added.
Mr Johnson also said the government would do its utmost to protect UK commercial interests in Iran from US sanctions.
Commons: “The JCPOA is an international agreement painstakingly negotiated over 13 years under both Republican and Democratic institutions and enshrined in UN resolution 2231. Britain has no intention of walking away. He said:
“Instead we will co-operate with the other parties to ensure that while Iran continues to restrict its nuclear programme then its people will benefit from sanctions relief in accordance with the central bargain of the deal.”
Britain would remain “a party” to the JCPOA as long as Iran complied with it, he added.
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