kfajdsl/voxpopuli huggingface dataset:
it is a multilateral agreement that was negotiated for twelve years under the mandate of the un security council which mandated the high representative of the european union to facilitate the negotiations between iran on one side and germany france the uk the us china and russia on the other side to reach an agreement that then
the risk is that were this agreement not in place tomorrow what would be the immediate consequence?
if we introduce the element of uncertainty of agreements signed the entire world collapses and the credibility of any negotiation of any negotiation collapses and the international system also goes in that direction.
it is the same unity that i have seen in the commission the same unity that i have seen in the european council in the foreign affairs council and the same unity that i have seen uniting the european union within our union but also with our international partners all around the world. let me stress this point because we have a responsibility as europeans at this time.
indeed it has a legal basis being a un security council resolution document.
good for us and for the rest of the region and the world that by the way was a joint analysis and a joint decision not only with our american friends but also with the rest of international community.
we didn't move from where we were and our analysis of what is in our interest and the global interest stays the same especially after eleven reports that the deal has worked and that iran is compliant.
became a un security council resolution annex.
what is at stake today?
i think this is the worst case scenario because this would undermine security nothing to do with stability and would undermine the nuclear nonproliferation regime and the credibility of the west and of multilateralism and diplomacy.
this is what we are talking about.
even if it's difficult we must we must do all we can together to preserve this agreement and this is exactly what we are doing because again the scenario of not having the agreement in place would be a disaster for europe for the security of the middle east for the proliferation of nuclear weapons and i believe also for the united states of america.
i think this is a mistake.
i think we have the power and the instruments together with our member states and together with the other international partners we have to prevent this agreement from being completely disrupted.
i don't know about you but i don't know anything in diplomacy not even in life that is perfect.
you know i never enter into these discussions but i think i have to clarify a couple of things.
the second element of confusion i see especially well only on the extreme right part of the chamber is this and i understand the political dilemma that some political forces might have at this stage namely following the trump agenda of destroying multilateralism and going only to bilateral agreements
the region going into a spiral of nuclear proliferation?
this goes beyond the nuclear agreement with iran.
the world is looking at us to try and preserve this achievement no achievement is perfect but it's an achievement and it's also looking at us to find ways themselves our international partners to contribute to preserving these agreements.
this agreement's purpose was and still is to prevent iran from developing a nuclear weapon and it is preventing iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
it sends all the wrong signals to the other wannabe nuclear states including the dprk. the remaining eu signatories have a vital role now.
in europe of course we do not share common values with the iranian government.
mr president the signing of the jcpoa with iran in two thousand and fifteen was a breakthrough to halt the march towards nuclear proliferation in an unstable region.
there are still other major issues of concern to be addressed such as the iranian ballistic missile programme its involvement in proxy wars in the region gross human rights violations and supporting terrorism but we must not let one poorly advised anti multilateralist president destroy an agreement that has at its heart the desire to maintain a more peaceful world. i am very grateful that brexiting britain is backing the european union not its traditional special relationship' partner the united states on this very important issue.
according to the iaea's verification and monitoring programme although the limits were probed and are being probed no outright violations have been detected to date.
on the one hand the us must be persuaded that the deal is still our best tool against nuclear proliferation and on the other hand iran must be encouraged to continue to meet all its obligations. finding ways to financially protect the european union companies doing business with iran will indeed be challenging.
iran abides by its nuclear related commitments as has been confirmed eleven times by the international atomic energy agency the last time was just a few weeks ago.
through this deal we prevented nuclear proliferation we avoided a regional escalation and we made sure that iran would never acquire a nuclear weapon ever.
it was the same track that the international community and the european union followed for over a decade with iran resulting in the signing almost exactly three years ago of the nuclear deal.
for instance the arak reactor modernisation project led by china continues as does the conversion of the fordow facility into a nuclear physics and technology centre a project led by russia. a dedicated workshop on fordow is foreseen to take place later this week.
we expressed our expectation that the extraterritorial effects of us secondary sanctions will not be enforced on eu entities and individuals and that the united states respect the good faith of economic operators within eu legal territory and we asked for a number of specific exemptions.
the nuclear deal makes europe more secure and prevents a nuclear arms race in the middle
the work on the implementation of nuclearrelated commitments continues.
these are essential steps to make iran more attractive to european businesses and banks.
we are addressing these issues in their own right in direct contacts such as on
the first is an update of the blocking statute which forbids eu companies to comply with us secondary sanctions.
this is why we decided and we have started to do so to set up a network of national focal points of all eu member states to further coordinate and intensify our work.
the recent statements by iran on uranium hexafluoride must be seen in this context.
the support of this parliament to conclude both processes swiftly will be of the essence and extremely important also as a political sign.
in particular i would add the world cannot afford a nuclear arms race in the middle east.
any other alternative could have tragic consequences and it would make us all less secure with no exceptions.
we focused in particular on the need to combine our work at eu level with the two measures i just mentioned and the work that is ongoing at the expert level with action from single member states to protect national economic operators.
it. i'll give you a couple of examples of small windows that have opened up in our dialogue and political talks with iran on issues that are not related to the nuclear
we remain committed to the full and effective implementation of the nuclear deal with iran.
the letter sent by president rouhani to the heads of state and government of france germany and the uk is to be interpreted exactly in the same context.
in this work we keep a strong focus on small and mediumsized enterprises which are less engaged in the us market.
like it or not that was the mandate the high representative at that time received from the un security council and this is the mandate that was fulfilled.
many european companies have chosen to do business with iran after the agreement was signed and are doing so in good faith based on commitments made by the international community as i said based on the implementation of the un security council resolution unanimously adopted.
second our determination to preserve the deal is also in the interests of the united states because preserving the nuclear deal is essential to our common security both for europe for the united states and for the entire middle east which might otherwise fall into a spiral of nuclear proliferation and of an even more dangerous level of conflictuality.
we have reacted in a firm decisive and united manner to protect at the same time our security interests and let me say in this way our economic sovereignty.
these issues are being addressed through intensive expert consultations happening basically on a daily basis including in brussels and in tehran last week but also at the political level.
west. i'll be very clear we have serious issues with iran's behaviour and stance in those fields.
implementation must continue both on the nuclear commitments and also on the economic track because the other essential part of the nuclear deal is the lifting of sanctions and the opportunities it creates for normalised trade and economic relations.
first of all this is not an economic issue for europe.
on the contrary let me say by experience that during all the years of negotiations of the nuclear deal anything else that was not nuclearrelated was basically off the table. once you keep and consolidate the nuclear deal with iran and make its survival beyond question then the space opens up to deal with other issues.
this support was also reiterated by the other cosignatories of the nuclear agreement france germany the united kingdom russia and china.
this is essential to keep iran in the nuclear agreement.
uk. so far this dialogue has focused on yemen and it has already delivered one step that was important helping organise the visit of the un special envoy mr griffiths to sana'a at the beginning of june to meet with the houthi leadership.
from this perspective the us decision to withdraw from the jcpoa and to reimpose all secondary sanctions is extremely problematic and needs to be addressed first of all by the european union by its member states and by the rest of the international community at large.
open. again the only outcome would be to give more space to those in the region including in iran that argue for more radical positions. our position on the iran nuclear deal is based on our principles and it is based on pragmatism.
how can we partner together and make sure that the agreement stays in place.
this is no mystery either for us or for them but they are not linked to the nuclear agreement implementation and they would not be easier to deal with at all without the nuclear deal in place.
of course iran also needs to do its part and this is very clear to improve its standards against money laundering and terrorist financing and step up banking reforms.
we will discuss further steps of this work exactly with the special envoy of the united nations at the next foreign affairs council to see how we can use our channels to try and make the work to solve the yemen crisis more effective. if the nuclear deal collapsed it would also be much more difficult to address our nonnuclear concerns that we
these announcements are clearly not a violation of the nuclear deal but it is also clear they do not contribute to build confidence and they are meant to put pressure on the international community.
we are also working on concrete measures aimed at sustaining our cooperation in key economic sectors particularly on banking and finance trade and investment oil and transport.
the nuclear deal was never meant to solve or to address all issues in our relations with iran. on the contrary at the very beginning meaning some fifteen years ago now that the purpose of the agreement would have been limited to only nuclear issues.
some of them have already announced now that they would discontinue their engagement so as to avoid us penalties. others have informed that they would withdraw from negotiations that had already started leaving by the way the economic investment space to other players in the world which also is not in the european interest.
this support from the rest of the international community is something i experience every single day in my meetings be it with the chinese foreign minister or the japanese foreign minister or the african union chairman or our colleagues from latin america or the rest of europe that are not part of the european union.
it's clear that our strategic and security interest is to save to preserve this nuclear deal.
the most important challenge now is to find solutions on banking and finance because legitimate trade and investment need banking partners and financial models that work.
ones. we have had the opportunity to discuss ballistic missiles regional issues and human rights in the euiran high level political dialogue and in other meetings quite a unique formation especially for the
what today is different is that on eight may the united states took the unilateral decision to withdraw from the joint comprehensive plan of action the nuclear deal with iran which is a multilateral agreement unanimously endorsed by the un security council with resolution.
this has created as you can imagine and as you know enormous pressure inside iran especially from those who have always opposed the agreement and the credibility of the entire international community of the multilateral system of the un system is being questioned.
the second is an extension of the lending mandate of the european investment bank to support economic activities in iran. after a period of nonobjection both acts should enter into force on five august just before the first batch of us sanctions takes effect on six august.
having a nuclear deal in place with iran has opened up a window to address other issues that are not nuclearrelated and that are there and that are our issues of concern as much as they are american issues of concern.
since a month ago the bulk of the international community has confirmed and reiterated the strong support for the nuclear agreement with iran simply for a very pragmatic reason that there is no better alternative and the world cannot afford a nuclear arms race.
this is also an incentive i would say the incentive for iran to continue to comply with its nuclear restrictions.
as i mentioned we worked on this with eu member states' foreign ministers at the last foreign affairs council.
we believe that they can be better addressed on the basis of maintaining the nuclear deal with iran rather than on the basis of destroying
it is essential for our own security and for the security of the region that implementation work continues and we are guaranteeing that this happens regardless of the us withdrawal.
east. it brings economic benefits to the people of iran and it should continue to do so and it opens precious new channels albeit difficult ones as i said for diplomacy and dialogue. this is why we are determined to preserve the nuclear deal and prevent a new escalation of tensions in an already troubled region and world because europe and the world cannot afford wasting all of this.
last week the foreign and finance ministers of france germany and the uk together with myself wrote a letter to the us secretaries of state and of the treasury.
yemen. on this i would like to share with you that we have set up a regional dialogue with iran chaired by us by the european union with the participation of france germany italy and the
as a first major step last wednesday the european commission adopted two delegated acts.
this is the only way to be effective in this endeavour to combine eulevel measures and national measures in a coordinated manner.
let me say that in more general terms this is a clear sign of the fact that the diplomatic track is often challenging is often the most difficult one to be followed but it is always the rewarding one and needs to be sustained over time.
we did it because it was in our security interest our european security interest and the global security interest.
you know that just a few hours ago the united states and the dprk ended their summit in singapore.
our position as europeans has not changed.
however you only need to look into the present situation to understand that with the mullah regime we are far from stability.
the reaction from ayatollah khamenei to the withdrawal of the united states from the agreement speaks volumes.
the tehran dictatorship is actually using the opportunity to milk the union and keep oppressing its own people.
the main issues for the iranian people are freedom human rights women's rights poverty and not the nuclear deal.
but the main thing for the union seems to be the deal and all the other deals that come with it.
it was designed to put off problems not to deal with them once and for all. thirdly the revenue from lifted sanctions went into the pockets of the revolutionary guard rather than to the country's suffering people.
the eu should now look at these failings and condition our future commitment to the jcpoa on human rights improvements a complete stop to the sponsoring of terrorists and the full dismantling of the iranian nuclear infrastructure.
while we work to preserve the nuclear deal we must never lose sight of the principles and values upon which this parliament was built. we must never stop standing up for those without a voice and holding those with power to account. we must never stop in our efforts to promote democracy free speech the rule of law and the right to peaceful protest.
this house must stand in solidarity with the people of iran who desire these most basic of freedoms and this house must stand in solidarity with those in iran currently in prison enduring torture or those who face the death penalty for the simple belief that tomorrow may be better than today.
madam president whilst i am hugely concerned about trump's irresponsible and dangerous foreign policy tearing up a landmark eu brokered deal designed to presage a more peaceful world i want to remind those in positions of power and influence that many people remain unfairly imprisoned in iran a country with an appalling human rights record.
nazanin zaghariratcliffe is a britishiranian dual citizen who is currently detained in evin prison on trumped up charges her situation sadly made worse by boris johnson's ignorant and careless words.
having met nazanin's husband richard i can testify to the terrible pain being experienced by her family.
so i urgently call on the high representative to use all the means in her power to urge the iranian authorities to release nazanin and others like her.
i'd also like to express my solidarity with the iranian people who occupied the streets to protest against corruption and rising prices.
despite calling itself moderate the current government continues to violate human rights and disregard the iranian people's wish for a more open country.
the iran nuclear agreement is not perfect but to change it the allies meaning the us and the european union should work together not act unilaterally.
the unilateral actions of the us undermine this much needed alliance and also the international legal environment.
it is also clear that some expectations that came with the iran nuclear agreement have not been fulfilled such as the way iran is spending the money that it has received due to the lifting of sanctions.
instead of using this money to build up its country and help people it is using the money to enhance its military structures and support conflicts in its neighbouring countries like yemen syria and iraq.
it is very unfortunate therefore to see the us backpedalling on this deal.
the consequences for international relations and for security in the region could be dire.
this is the very force that helped assad drive refugees to europe.
laws are there to safeguard and protect individuals in society as a whole.
the abuse of these laws encourages extremists to enforce their notion of truth on others thereby increasing religious intolerance discrimination and violence.
her health has greatly worsened during the years she has spent in almost total isolation. it is worth remembering that the death penalty for blasphemy has however never been carried out in pakistan.
all individuals facing charges their families and those who speak out against the law face terrible reprisals or lose their lives.
it is very sad that today many millions of people across the globe are still discriminated against persecuted and even killed for their faith.
we are all deeply concerned about asia bibi's situation. it is now four years since she was charged and the judicial process is still ongoing.
blasphemy laws are common across the world but must be used to promote religious harmony and not in persecution of others.
people should also be aware that there have been changes in pakistan in recent years as regards accession to international human rights instruments and that the european union is working towards improvement there.
they are often used as people have said to settle scores and that certainly seems to have been the case here.
i think that if we do not acknowledge that we make it much more difficult for those arguing for change in pakistan because they are often accused of promoting a pro western pro christian agenda rather than promoting human rights in general and we know people have said that it can be dangerous to speak in favour of reforming the laws
just as it is dangerous to be accused of breaking them.
this has a real chill effect on politicians and i think as politicians we can understand that so we need to support those in pakistan who do wish to speak out for change who wish to speak against the death penalty who wish to speak for reform of these laws for every citizen in pakistan whatever their faith.
i am speaking primarily in my role as chair of the delegation for countries of south asia which actually includes pakistan and i want to make it clear to the house that these issues have been raised on our visits there. they have been raised with the authorities in terms of the death penalty in general
while allegations of blasphemy are raised against minorities i would echo the words of my colleague here that it is also important to see that the majority of people accused under these laws are muslim.
so those cases are raised.
we must rather ask whether it is acceptable to sentence people to any kind of punishment for blasphemy.
it is wrong from the point of view of freedom of speech but also because many barbarian practices such as child marriage are deeply rooted in religion.
it is in practice impossible to criticise these practices without criticising their religious foundations.
in its proposal the commission has used these empowerments only when necessary to supplement provisions of the basic act and adopt uniform rules for implementation that are currently dealt with by means of commission regulations or that may need to be tackled in the future.
in addition we hope to conclude the validation of the established gi before the adoption of the new regulation. however we should be allowed to continue that process in the new legal framework in cases where such an examination has not being concluded.
therefore we need to maintain a legal basis for that purpose. we remain confident that these and other issues will be resolved smoothly during the forthcoming trilogue negotiations given the collaborative spirit of all concerned in these institutions and in the common objective of reaching the most balanced and satisfactory result which allows for a modern framework for the growth of the spirit sector.
in particular we need to maintain a sufficiently flexible framework to allow changes in spirit drink categories.
there is little margin of manoeuvre for the definition of these empowerments so therefore the commission considers to have proposed an appropriate balance in compliance with the requirements of the treaty.
the commission has divided those empowerments into delegated and implementing acts.
mr president honourable members on behalf of the commission i'd like to express my appreciation to the members of parliament who have worked hard in recent months to examine and to improve the commission proposal on the alignment of the spirit drinks regulation.