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

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 "as 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.