U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the Iran nuclear deal in a telephone conversation on Thursday, the White House said.
"The leaders discussed how to counter Iran's malign activities in the Middle East, and addressed the nuclear deal and Iran's missile program, and its non-compliance with relevant United Nations resolutions," the White House said in a statement.
Merkel's government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a post on Twitter that the bulk of the conversation focused on relations with North Korea and the Iran nuclear agreement.
Speaking on the Iranian nuclear deal, Merkel said it was an "important instrument" to prevent Iran from arming itself with nuclear weapons. The Chancellor agreed with Trump that Iran's "negative role" in Syria and Lebanon, as well as its failure to recognize Israel's right to exist were "unacceptable." She agreed that the Iranian missile program violated UN Security Council's directives, the Deutsche Welle reported.
