European powers alarmed by Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear accord set out this week on an urgent search for ways to hold the deal together and avoid a further escalation of violence in the Middle East.
With Chancellor Angela Merkel warning that faith in the international order is at stake, Germany, France and the U.K. are embarking on a diplomatic mission to salvage what they can of the accord, both to keep Iran on side and to shield European companies from U.S. sanctions that threaten billions of dollars of investment.
Foreign ministers from the U.K., France and Germany are due to sit down with their Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss how to move forward. European Union leaders will then take up Iran at an informal dinner in Sofia the following day. Merkel winds up the week with a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in the Russian resort of Sochi.