MUNICH: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif today urged European powers to do more to save the nuclear deal with the Islamic republic, and accused Washington of having an “obsession” with Iran.

“Europe has to do more if it wants to preserve relations with Iran,” said Zarif at the Munich Security Conference. He added that Europe needed to “walk the walk” to match the talk of multilateralism. “Europe needs to be willing to get wet if it wants to swim against the dangerous tide of US unilateralism,” he told the conference, saying that Iran, for now, was committed to a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Zarif’s speech came a day after US Vice President Mike Pence urged Germany, France, and Britain to follow Washington in withdrawing from the deal and to “stop undermining US sanctions.” The United States had an “unhealthy fixation” or “obsession” with Iran, said Zarif.  The United States withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May last year and reimposed sanctions against Tehran. Other countries in teal, including the major European powers such as Germany, France, and Britain, have since tried to keep the deal alive.