European foreign ministers plead against new Iran sanctions moves

UNITED NATIONS — Four leading European foreign policy officials on Thursday warned that new sanctions legislation against Iran could torpedo efforts to secure a long-term agreement with Tehran to curb its nuclear programme.

The plea, in an opinion piece published in the Washington Post, appeared to be directed at the Republican-controlled US Congress weighing new sanctions, even though the piece did not explicitly mention US lawmakers.

It was by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

Some prominent US lawmakers are calling for new sanctions to further pressure Iran to compromise in deadlocked nuclear negotiations with six world powers. That would be a mistake, the Europeans cautioned.

"Introducing new hurdles at this critical stage of the negotiations, including through additional nuclear-related sanctions legislation on Iran, would jeopardise our efforts at a critical juncture," they wrote.

"While many Iranians know how much they stand to gain by overcoming isolation and engaging with the world, there are also those in Tehran who oppose any nuclear deal," the ministers said. "We should not give them new arguments."

Negotiators from Iran and six major powers — the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — failed to meet a self-imposed deadline in November for an agreement seen as crucial to reducing the risk of a wider Middle East war.

A deal would curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. The new deadline for a long-term agreement is June 30.

"New sanctions at this moment might also fracture the international coalition that has made sanctions so effective so far," the Europeans said. "Rather than strengthening our negotiating position, new sanctions legislation at this point would set us back."