Mike Pompeo Crashes Brussels Meet Of EU Allies For Iran talks

Brussels: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called off a trip to Russia and instead made an unscheduled visit to Brussels on Monday to hold talks with European Union officials on Iran amid renewed tensions in the Middle East, officials said. Pompeo, who had been scheduled to head to Russia, landed in Brussels to discuss pressing issues with EU diplomats, said a US State Department official. The visit came as Washington warned of heightened tensions in the region and Pompeo sought to have talks with top diplomats from the UK, Germany, and France, the State Department said.

The last-minute decision - announced as Mike Pompeo hopped on a plane - set up a confrontation between him and European diplomats who have been scrambling to save the Iranian nuclear deal which was abandoned by the US last year, the Washington Post reported. Iranian leaders announced last week they would scale back their cooperation under the 2015 agreement, forcing Europe to choose between defying Washington or kissing goodbye to the 2015 deal. Europe sees it as key to preventing a nuclear-armed Iran, the report said. Mike Pompeo was expected to talk with European counterparts about the status of the agreement which Washington has walked away from. (IANS)

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