France urges new EU sanctions on Iran to mollify Trump

France urges its partners in the European Union to impose new sanctions against Iran over its ballistic missile program as well as its actions in Syria, in an effort to stop the US from exiting the nuclear deal.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian insists that his country is determined to keep the 2015 nuclear deal, signed in Vienna, intact. However, he tells reporters that there are issues not covered in that accord that still must be dealt with.

“We are determined to ensure that the Vienna accord is respected,” he says, according to Reuters. “But we must not exclude (from consideration) Iran’s responsibility in the proliferation of ballistic missiles and in its very questionable role in the near and Middle East. That must also be discussed to reach a common position.”

US President Donald Trump said in January that the deal between Iran and major powers must be “fixed” by May 12 or the United States will walk away, likely ending the accord.

Le Drian’s comments are slammed by Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi.

“The French foreign minister’s comments over the missile issues are, unfortunately, a repetition of the improper words of the past,” Iran’s Fars News site quotes him as saying.

Le Drian “was informed of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s positions on different global and regional issues in a completely straightforward manner during his recent visit to Tehran,” Qasemi says. “His recent statements about the Islamic Republic of Iran are not comprehensible and to a large extent seem be odd and illogical after his visit to Tehran.”