European foreign ministers met Monday (July 15th) for crisis talks on the Iran nuclear deal, as Britain warned the "small window" to save the accord was closing, AFP reported.
The EU is trying to prevent the 2015 deal Iran has breached from unravelling completely, seeing it as the best way to stop Tehran acquiring atomic weapons, and the issue was top of the agenda as ministers from the bloc met in Brussels.
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt -- who held phone talks with his US and Iranian counterparts over the weekend -- insisted "the deal is not dead yet".
"Iran is still a good year away from developing a nuclear weapon. We think there is still some closing but small window to keep the deal alive," Hunt said.
Britain, France and Germany -- the three European parties to the deal -- on Sunday issued a joint statement saying they were "extremely concerned" by Iran's recent breaches as well as by US sanctions.
They called for dialogue to resolve the crisis.
EU ministers insisted Iran must return to respecting its obligations under the deal in full, rejecting a suggestion by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that both sides could reduce their commitments.
"This is a very, very serious situation. We must make it clear once again, in clear language, that there is only a chance if Iran commits itself unreservedly to what is contained in the treaty," Germany's junior foreign minister Michael Roth said.
Hunt agreed, saying the deal "has to be taken in its entirety".
The joint commission overseeing the accord, made up of ministers from the countries still in the deal -- the Europeans plus China, Russia and Iran -- will meet "very soon" to discuss Tehran's breaches, Hunt said.
