4 EU foreign ministers to meet in Brussels to discuss Iran, Libya

The foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany, and Italy have announced plans to hold emergency talks in Brussels following the US assassination of a top Iranian military commander as well as the escalation of the Libyan crisis.

The foreign ministers of the four European countries, along with the EU diplomatic chief, are due to meet in Brussels on Tuesday after the targeted killing of anti-terror Iranian commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani on the direction of US President Donald Trump and the seizure of the Libyan coastal city of Sirte by renegade General Khalifa Haftar.

“The [British] foreign secretary is traveling to Brussels today for talks with his European counterparts on the situation in the Middle East following the death of Soleimani and on the escalating conflict in Libya,” the British Foreign Office said.

The Office added that the EU officials would also discuss the Iran nuclear deal after a Monday announcement that Tehran was taking its fifth and final step to scale back its commitments in response to the US withdrawal from the 2015 multinational deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Iran announces decision to take fifth step to scale back JCPOA commitments

Iran announces its decision to take the fifth and final step in reducing its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.

“The E3 will then meet to discuss the tensions between the US and Iran with all three pushing for de-escalation,” the British Foreign Office said, referring to Britain, France and Germany as the three European signatories to the Iran nuclear deal.

“The talks will cover the nuclear deal following Iran’s latest announcement on Sunday that it is withdrawing from further commitments in the deal.”

The Iran deal was signed in 2015 with the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany. But the US withdrew from the accord in May 2018 and returned the sanctions, prompting Iran to begin a set of countermeasures.

Tehran’s decision to further scale back its commitments followed the US assassination of Lieutenant General Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps’ Quds Force, in Baghdad on Friday, along with his companions, including Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).

Iran has pledged “harsh revenge” on the US for the assassination.

Iran Leader vows 'harsh revenge' following assassination of Gen. Soleimani

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says a harsh revenge will be taken against the criminals who assassinated IRGC Quds Force Commander Major General Qassem Soleimani.

Meanwhile, militia members operating under the command of Haftar in Libya said on Tuesday that they had seized control of the strategic city of Sirte, as Turkey has started deploying troops to support the internationally-recognized government in the capital, Tripoli.

Ahmad al-Mesmari, a spokesman for Haftar’s self-styled forces, said Sirte, which lies some 450 kilometers east of the capital, “has been totally liberated.”

Since 2014, Libya has been divided between two rival camps: one based in the eastern city of Tobruk, and the other, the internationally-recognized government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, in the capital, Tripoli.

Haftar and his allied forces are backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. In April, they launched an offensive to capture Tripoli and oust the government, which recently sought help from Turkey.

Libya has been the scene of chaos since 2011, when former dictator Muammar Gaddafi was toppled from power after an uprising and a NATO military intervention.

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