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Europe News

Sanctions threat against Iraq 'not very helpful', German minister says

FILE PHOTO: Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas attends the Global Refugee Forum at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, December 17, 2019, REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) - Threatening Iraq with sanctions is “not very helpful,” Germany’s foreign minister said on Monday, after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that Baghdad could be hit by sanctions “like they’ve never seen before” if U.S. forces were forced to leave.

“I don’t think it works to convince Iraq with threats but with arguments,” Heiko Maas told Deutschlandfunk public radio.

He added Germany, Britain and France would discuss the Iran nuclear deal on Monday and would react this week to Tehran’s recent announcements.

Iran said on Sunday it would abandon limitations on enriching uranium, taking a further step back from commitments to a 2015 nuclear deal with six major powers.

Reporting by Thomas Seythal; Editing by Edward Taylor

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