BRUSSELS -- EU leaders on October 19 are set to voice support for a landmark deal to limit Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief, one week after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would not to certify that Iran was complying with the agreement.
"The European Council reaffirms its full commitment to the Iran nuclear deal and endorses the statement by the foreign affairs council of October 16, 2017," the leaders of the 28-member European Union say in a brief statement seen by RFE/RL.
The statement is expected to be endorsed at a dinner in Brussels later on October 19.
Trump, in an Iran-policy speech on October 13, stopped short of renouncing the 2015 accord, but refused to certify Iran's compliance and said he would ask Congress to strengthen legislation to put additional pressure on Tehran and deny it a "path" to develop nuclear weapons.
EU foreign ministers earlier in the week adopted a statement declaring that the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is "a key element of the global nuclear nonproliferation architecture and is crucial for the security of the region."
The foreign ministers' statement also noted that "at a time of acute nuclear threat the EU is determined to preserve the JCPOA as a key pillar of the international nonproliferation architecture."