German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that European Union countries agreed the Iran nuclear deal was "not perfect.”
"Everyone in the European Union shares the view that the agreement is not perfect, but that we should remain in this agreement and conduct further negotiations with Iran on the basis of other issues such as the ballistic missile program," Merkel said as she arrived for the summit of EU leaders in Sofia.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the bloc was working to keep the existing agreement alive "so that our businesses can remain" in Iran.
This effort would run alongside work to "pursue negotiations on a vital broader agreement," Macron said.
"The 2015 agreement needs to be completed by a nuclear agreement beyond 2025, an agreement on ballistic activities and (Iran's) regional presence," Macron said.
