EU supports Iran nuke deal

♦ British FM Hunt warns US-Iran conflict risk

♦ British Council staffer sentenced to 10 years for ‘spying’: Iran

The European Union’s diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said yesterday they would continue to support the nuclear pact because Iran continued to comply with inspections.

She stressed the need for dialogue as “the only and the best way to address differences and avoid escalation” in the region, as she arrived for a scheduled meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels.

“We continue to fully support the nuclear deal with Iran, its full implementation,” Mogherini said.

“It has been and continues to be for us a key element of the non-proliferation architecture both globally and in the region.”

Alongside the meeting of all 28 foreign ministers, the representatives of Britain, France and Germany -- the three European signatories -- will meet Mogherini to discuss how to keep the deal going.

“We in Europe agree that this agreement is necessary for our security. No-one wants Iran to come into possession of a nuclear bomb,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said as he arrived.

“That is why we will continue to support the implementation of this agreement.”

Amid US-Iran tensions regarding nuclear pact, two Saudi oil tankers were damaged in mysterious “sabotage attacks” in the Gulf.

Tehran called for an investigation into the “alarming” attacks and warned of “adventurism” by foreign players to disrupt maritime security, reported AFP.

Britain warned of the danger of conflict erupting “by accident” in the Gulf.

Britain’s Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt yesterday said Iran and the United States could trigger a conflict by accident in an already unstable Gulf region, urging a period of calm ahead of talks between the European Union and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

President Donald Trump is seeking to isolate Tehran by cutting off its oil exports after pulling out of a 2015 deal aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear programme. Trump has also sent US warplanes and an aircraft carrier to the Gulf.

Iran says the strategy amounts to “psychological warfare” and a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander on Sunday said Iran would retaliate to any aggressive US moves, reported Reuters.

Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iran deal, which aims to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, is strongly opposed by Britain, France and Germany, the European signatories to the accord, which the EU helped to negotiate.

Meanwhile, an Iranian woman employee of the British Council has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for “spying”, the judiciary’s news website Mizan Online reported yesterday, sparking concern in London.

“An Iranian citizen in charge of the Iran desk at the... British Council was cooperating with English spying agencies,” Mizan reported, quoting judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili.