Iran blasts US efforts to turn Europe against nuclear deal

United States Vice President Mike Pence, right, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, left, shake hands during a bilateral meeting at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

MUNICH – Iran's foreign minister is blasting the United States' "unhealthy fixation" with his country and condemning the Trump administration's efforts to press European countries to pull out of the nuclear agreement with Tehran.

Mohammad Javad Zarif addressed the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, a day after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence prodded European powers Germany, France and Britain to follow Washington in withdrawing from the deal and to "stop undermining U.S. sanctions."

The U.S. withdrew unilaterally last year from the 2015 agreement, which offers Iran sanctions relief for limiting its nuclear program.

Zarif says "we have long been the target of an unhealthy fixation, let's say obsession" from the U.S. He said Pence "arrogantly demanded that Europe must join the United States in undermining its own security and breaking its obligations."