GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday it would be wrong to cancel the nuclear agreement with Iran, highlighting it as one of the main differences of opinion between Berlin and Washington.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced last week that the U.S. would pull out of the 2015 accord designed to keep Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in check.

Merkel told parliament yesterday that the U.S. decision was among several pieces of “troubling news” that had happened recently. Others included chemical attacks in Syria, violence in Gaza and daily cease-fire breaches in Ukraine.

While the Iran deal remains “anything but ideal,” Merkel said “it’s not right to cancel this agreement in this situation now.”

Still, she added that “despite all the problems we have these days, trans-Atlantic relations are and remain of paramount importance.”

Meanwhile, major European powers sought to show Iran they stand by diplomatic commitments.

Trump’s announcement left EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and the foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany with their backs against the wall as they prepared for a dinner meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. But the EU officials were hopeful that diplomacy and the promise of economic benefits could keep Iran in the fold of a nuclear deal they see as essential to security.

“We will be looking at a package of measures we may be able to devise as Europeans to encourage Iran to stay in,” British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said. “We will look at potential options for supporting continued sanctions relief for Iran to ensure we meet our commitments under the deal.”

(SD-Agencies)