European leaders praise Iran nuclear deal

By Tara Palmeri

In contrast to the U.S., EU politicians broadly backs the deal as a boost for Middle East security.

European leaders rushed to praise the nuclear agreement reached Tuesday by six world powers and Iran, saying they hoped the painstakingly negotiated deal would pave the way for deeper collaboration on security issues in the Middle East.

While Israeli leaders called the nuclear deal a mistake and demanded that the U.S. Congress kill it, European Council President Donald Tusk said that if implemented the agreement “could be a turning point” for Iran’s relationships with the rest of the world.

“The text of the agreement is precise,” Tusk said in a statement. “We must now join forces to see it through, taking into account regional sensitivities.”

Iran and the six world powers, including the U.K, France, China and Russia, reached the deal after more than a decade of negotiations, striking a compromise over United Nations inspections of Iranian military sites in return for the gradual lifting of sanctions.

“The world is making headway,” French President François Hollande said in his traditional annual interview on France’s national day. “Now that Iran will have bigger financial capabilities — as there will no longer be sanctions — we must be extremely vigilant on what Iran will be.”
European Parliament President Martin Schulz added: “After years of sanctions and tense relations, this agreement makes everyone better-off.” 
European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans called the agreement “historic” and saluted EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini for her role in the negotiations. She announced the deal alongside Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.

“One should never use the qualification ‘historic’ lightly, but in the case of the agreement reached with Iran, this morning in Vienna, [it] is almost an understatement,” Timmermans wrote on his Facebook page. “Very proud of Federica Mogherini and grateful to all the foreign ministers directly involved in the negotiations.”

Guy Verhofstadt, president of the centrist Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group in the European Parliament, called the deal “proof that solutions to dangerous conflicts can be found at the negotiating table.”

“When the EU and the U.S. cooperate with determination, we can lead international efforts to deliver global peace and stability,” Verhofstadt said in an interview. “This positive energy must not be wasted. It’s crucial we now engage with Iran and the Arab states in eliminating ISIS and bringing stability” to the Middle East.

Gianni Pittella, the president of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament, said the agreement with Iran was “a very positive step” that would “open new avenues for constructively engaging” with Iran on the fight against ISIS, the end of civil war in Syria and the stabilization of the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“It is a great example of success that Europe’s common foreign policy can achieve when there is leadership, common purpose and unwavering commitment to world peace and effective multilateralism,” Pittella said.

French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius told Le Monde that the agreement had put an end to “one of the most serious and longest crises on nuclear proliferation.” It also aimed, he said, to provide “more peace and stability in the Middle East.”

“Beyond that,” Fabius said, “if Iran, an important country, a great civilization, a major actor in the region, clearly makes the choice of cooperation, we will pay tribute to this evolution but we will judge on results. Its contribution would be useful to solve numerous crisis.”

Marietje Schaake, a Dutch MEP from the ALDE group, called the agreement a “day of historic importance for the entire world.”

But she also warned that Iran had largely contributed to the current civil war in Syria by strengthening the government in Damascus and militia on the ground.

Iran, she said, “must now choose to be part of the solution and the end of the war instead.”