France’s Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said on Wednesday that he was worried that U.S. President Donald Trump could put the nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers into doubt.
“The agreement which was passed two years ago enables Iran to give up on a nuclear weapon and so avoid proliferation. We have to guarantee this stance,” Jean Le Drian said during a visit to Science-Po university in Paris, according to Reuters.
“I am worried at this moment in time by the position of President Trump, who could put into question this accord. And if this accord is put into question then voices in Iran will speak up to say: ‘Let’s also have a nuclear weapon.’ We are in an extremely dangerous spiral for the world,” he added.
Trump has been a vocal critic of the Iran nuclear deal, which was signed during the term of the Obama administration, describing it as “the worst deal I’ve ever seen negotiated”.
While Trump's administration recently confirmed that Iran is adhering to the nuclear agreement it signed with world powers in 2015, Trump and other officials in the administration have stressed that the President still has reservations about the deal.
Trump recently said Iran had failed to live up to the spirit of the nuclear deal. Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in turn accused Trump of showing "bad faith" over the accord.
Le Drian’s comments follow ones made recently by French President Emmanuel Macron, who opined recently there was no alternative to the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
“In the context of what we are living through, the 2015 agreement is what allows us establish a constructive and demanding dialogue with Iran,” Macron said.
EU member countries Britain, France and Germany remain firm backers of the agreement and have criticized the Trump administration for threatening to scrap it.