Boris Johnson underlines support for nuclear deal in call with Iranian president Rouhani
Boris Johnson urged Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday to end the confrontation with the United States and underlined Britain's commitments to Tehran's nuclear agreement, Downing Street said.
Johnson "called for an end to hostilities" and said Britain viewed the 2015 nuclear deal as "the best arrangement currently available to deliver on our goal of stopping Iran from having a nuclear weapon", his spokesman said.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said "the time has come" for Britain, Germany, France, Russia and China to follow Washington's lead and abandon the 2015 nuclear agreement, which sets limits on Iran's enrichment levels.
Iran began breaking the deal's rules once Trump pulled the US out in 2018, resulting in a new wave of tension.
The US launched a drone attack in Iraq last week killing Iran's top military commander.
In a 20-minute call, Downing Street said Johnson wanted to "deliver the clear message" to Iran that "there is an urgent need for de-escalation".
Boris Johnson has called for an end to hostilities in the Gulf in a phone conversation with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
During the call, Mr Johnson also urged an end to the "detention and mistreatment" of jailed British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other dual nationals held by Tehran, and demanded their immediate release.
Downing Street said the Prime Minister "underlined the UK's continued commitment" to the troubled nuclear deal in the conversation.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who held talks in Washington with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acknowledged that Iran's breaches of the JCPOA were becoming "acute".
"We want to see Iran come back to full compliance and we will be looking at all measures including potentially triggering the DRM (the deal's dispute resolution mechanism)," he said.
Mr Johnson's call with Mr Rouhani came as tensions appeared to have eased following Tehran's retaliation against the US over the killing of General Qassem Soleimani.
The Downing Street spokesman said: "They discussed the situation in the region following the death of Qassem Soleimani and the Prime Minister called for an end to hostilities."
In the Commons on Wednesday, Mr Johnson said Gen Soleimani, who was killed by a US drone strike on January 3, "had the blood of British troops on his hands" because he had "supplied improvised explosive devices to terrorists".
Following a missile barrage aimed at military bases in Iraq hosting US forces and troops from allies including the UK, Mr Trump suggested Tehran was "standing down" - signalling that the two sides were stepping back from the brink of war.
