Germany weighs new sanctions against Iran - report

Germany is lobbying among European allies to agree new sanctions against Iran in an attempt to prevent US President Donald Trump from terminating an international deal curbing Tehran’s nuclear programme, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Saturday.

The report cited diplomats in Brussels as saying that Germany was pushing for new sanctions together with Britain and France to show the United States that European allies were taking Trump’s criticism against Iran seriously.

A German foreign ministry spokeswoman and another government spokesman both declined to comment on the report.

Germany wants to punish Iran for its missile programme and its meddling in conflicts in other Middle East countries, such as the war in Yemen and Syria, the report said.

Above all, the aim of the Europeans is to prevent the United States from terminating the nuclear agreement sealed in 2015, as repeatedly threatened by Trump, Der Spiegel reported.

Read: China says Iran nuclear deal not derailed, pledges constructive role

Iran said last week it would retaliate against new sanctions imposed by Washington after Trump set an ultimatum to fix “disastrous flaws” in a deal curbing Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Trump has said he would waive nuclear sanctions on Iran for the last time to give the United States and European allies a final chance to amend the pact. Washington also imposed sanctions on the head of Iran’s judiciary and others.

Russia has previously said that it would not support a US bid to change the nuclear agreement with Iran, while the EU has expressed it’s committment to the deal, and the French President Emmanuel Macron told Israeli’s Benjamin Netanyahu that the Iran nuclear deal must be upheld.

Russia: Iran nuclear deal cannot survive if US pulls out