Senhor Presidente, tem o meu apoio nos seus esforços para preservar o acordo nuclear com o Irão que é a pedra angular do regime global da não proliferação nuclear e, assim, absolutamente estratégico para a União Europeia, para a segurança da região e para todo o mundo.

Besides, the JCPOA can, with the lifting of sanctions, foster economic, social and people-to-people exchanges, thus enhancing political dialogue with Iran and bringing to that dialogue questions like regional issues and human rights - including in Iran. We need this channel of dialogue; it can actually encourage Iran to play a responsible role in the region, in contrast with the Wahhabism fuelling terrorism from neighbouring Saudi Arabia and proxies.

To counter those who want to destroy the JCPOA, I support the Commission's proposal to reactivate the blocking regulation, making it possible to protect legitimate EU trade with Iran, and to empower the European Investment Bank to finance trade with Iran. We must refute Trump's hypocrisy in opposing the verified JCPOA when he is trying to sell his unverified deal with the North Korean dictator, and all those who try to pretend - like Israel and the Saudis backing Trump - that Iran is the only source of trouble in the Middle East.

No doubt, I condemn many of the Iranian policies - namely violating human rights in Iran, and namely supporting the regime of Assad in Syria - but Iran is not the only troublemaker in the region. We should equally condemn all those who are fostering trouble and fuelling conflicts, like the UAE, which is now preparing an assault on the port of al Hudaydah in Yemen, which the UN has warned could lead to catastrophic humanitarian consequences. The divergence with the Trump administration over the JCPOA is actually part of a deeper problem in transatlantic relations: trade wars, withdrawal from the climate agreement, from the migration global compacts, brazen interference against our Union in European countries, supporting populist far-right policies. This is a bigger problem, and we need...

(The President cut off the speaker)