Iran minister to meet Europeans in Brussels on Tuesday: EU

Iran's foreign minister will meet his British, French and German counterparts in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss US President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Tehran, the EU said.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will host the talks between the so-called E3 powers and Iranian minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, her office said in a statement.

Mogherini said shortly after Trump's announcement on Tuesday that the EU is ‘determined to preserve’ the deal, while EU leaders are set to discuss the issue at a summit in Bulgaria next week.

Mogherini ‘will on Tuesday 15 May in Brussels host a meeting with E3 Foreign Ministers (Germany, France, UK). This EU/E3 meeting will then be followed by a meeting of that same group with the Foreign Minister of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif,’ the EU statement said.

Britain, France and Germany led a campaign to persuade Trump to stick with the deal negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama, arguing that it was the most effective way of stopping Iran developing nuclear weapons.

But the massive diplomatic push ended in failure as Trump -- as expected -- announced the US was pulling out and reimposing sanctions that had been relaxed in return for Iran abandoning its nuclear programme.

The EU has said it will work with Russia and China, who also signed the accord, to keep it alive.