Tillerson sees progress in fixing Iran deal with Europeans

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says that he sees progress in getting European support for tough new penalties against Iran that could prevent a US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

After meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May, national security adviser Mark Sedwill and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Tillerson said they had agreed to set up a working group of experts on fixing flaws in the 2015 agreement that US President Donald Trump has warned he will walk away from this spring unless fixes are made to his liking.

“I think there’s a common view among the E3 that there are some areas of the (nuclear deal) or some areas of Iran’s behavior that should be addressed,” Tillerson tells reporters after talks with Johnson. The E3 are Britain, France and Germany, which are all parties to the deal.

Tillerson specifically highlights concerns about Iran’s ballistic missile program, which is not covered by the nuclear deal, and provisions in the agreement that allow Iran to gradually resume advanced atomic work.

The working group will begin to meet as early as next week to discuss how to address the flaws “through some type of another side agreement perhaps or a mechanism that would address our concerns,” Tillerson says.

— AP