MNA � The European Union wants to save Iran nuclear deal but would welcome any extra progress beyond the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Friday.







"My specific role, not just for the European Union but also for a clear mandate that we received by the UN Security Council, is to preserve the full implementation of the existing agreement,� Mogherini told a press conference.

�Again, if something else can be built on it, this would be welcomed and accompanied by the European Union," she added.

The EU top diplomat said that there had been a coordination meeting earlier on Friday with representatives of France, Germany and the United Kingdom the so-called E3 group to discuss if there would be any follow-up to what was discussed at the recent G7 summit in Biarritz.

Mogherini added that EU member states "also with Russia and China and the Iranians continue to ensure that, first of all, there is full compliance from the Iranian side to its nuclear commitments under the JCPOA."

She pointed out that there had been some progress on long-awaited INSTEX � a tool set up by the European Union to ease trade with Iran after the United States left the JCPOA and reinstated sanctions against Tehran and those trading with it.

This is while the European signatories to the JCPOA have so far failed to uphold their commitments. They have expressed vocal support for the deal�but failed to provide meaningful economic incentives as required under the nuclear agreement.

Iran has warned that it will take the "third step" in reducing its commitments under the JCPOA unless the other signatories take action to protect the agreement.

Tehran has rowed back on its nuclear commitments twice in compliance with articles 26 and 36 of the 2015 deal.

Iran says its reciprocal measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield the Iranian economy from unilateral US sanctions which were imposed last year when President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal.