Mike Pompeo in Iraq, Iran announces 'partial withdrawal' from nuclear deal

(Patria) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suddenly cancelled long-planned talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin to travel to Iraq to support the country's government 'amid rising tensions with Iran', agencies report.

Pompeo was scheduled to meet with Merkel on the sidelines of the Arctic Council meeting in Finland on Monday.

In Baghdad, Pompeo met with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and other officials to discuss the security of US citizens in Iraq, and to express his concerns regarding the security situation arising from increased Iranian activity, writes the British Guardian.

We remind you that the US declared the Iranian Revolutionary Guards a terrorist group, and a few days ago announced that the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln was deployed to the Middle East, justifying the decision with information that Iran might be planning attacks. The US government will also send B-52 bombers to the Middle East, announced the spokesperson for the US military.

What a partial withdrawal from the deal means

Iran announced a partial withdrawal from the nuclear weapons deal it signed with world powers in 2015, one year after US President Donald Trump did so.

The current agreement stipulates that Iran sells its excess enriched uranium abroad, instead of keeping it, so as not to generate nuclear power and be without nuclear weapons.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran will stop exporting its stockpiles of enriched uranium and warned that after 60 days it will resume uranium enrichment if the European signatories to the deal do not fulfill their promises to find a new financial mechanism that would allow European companies to do business with Iran despite sanctions.

Iran will officially notify the signatory parties – France, Germany, Britain, France, China, and Russia – about the 'reciprocal measures', while Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will present the legal and technical details in a separate letter to EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini.

Official Tehran categorically claims that the partial withdrawal will not turn into a complete one.

France has warned that Europe will have no choice but to impose economic sanctions on Iran if it withdraws from the deal.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has been under strong pressure at home for some time to find some kind of response to the US withdrawal from the deal. 

At the same time, the US administration is warning European multinational companies that they will be on the 'black list' if they do business with Iran, which has led to the withdrawal of European firms from the Iranian market and consequently a negative impact on the country's economy.

United Nations inspectors claim that Iran is complying with the nuclear deal.

In its official announcement of withdrawal from the deal, Iran invoked a clause of the agreement that allows it to take steps if any contracting party withdraws from the agreement, writes the Guardian.