2nd LD: European top diplomats reassert commitments to Iran nuclear deal ahead of U.S. decision

BRUSSELS, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- European top diplomats Thursday reasserted their commitments to Iran nuclear deal, sending an unflagging message to Washington, as the White House is set to decide whether to reimpose sanctions against Tehran.

Speaking to the press following a meeting with their Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, and foreign ministers of France, Germany, Britain, expressed their common views to uphold the hardly-wrought deal.

"The deal is working, it is delivering on its main goal which means keeping the Iranian nuclear program in check and under close surveillance," said Mogherini.

She added that the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed in nine reports that Iran has been fully in compliance with the deal.

"It is crucial for the security of the region, but also for the security of Europe," she stressed.

Echoing Mogherini, France Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian highlighted that "there is no particular reason to disengage in any way from this agreement as Iran has been respecting the provisions of the deal."

Hailing the deal as a "considerable diplomatic accomplishment", British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said no one has so far come up with a better alternative.

On Oct. 13, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he had decided to decertify Iran's compliance with the Iran nuclear deal reached in 2015.

His move did not pull the United States out of the deal but triggered a 60-day window for Congress to decide whether to reimpose nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, even it means violating the deal on the U.S. side. In the past two months, the U.S. Congress did not come up with any resolution to reimpose sanctions.

With no action from Congress, the ball was passed back to Trump, who should decide on Friday if he would like to waive energy sanctions on Iran. Enditem