About 500 lawmakers from Germany, France and Britain on Thursday urged the US Congress to support the Iran nuclear deal which President Donald Trump has threatened to abandon.

"It is the US's and Europe's interest to prevent nuclear proliferation in a volatile region and to maintain the transatlantic partnership as a reliable and credible driving force of world politics," the MPs wrote.

The MPs from the parliaments of the three European signatory countries said the landmark 2015 deal was a "major diplomatic breakthrough" that had halted the imminent threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

"We were able to impose unprecedented scrutiny on the Iranian nuclear programme, dismantle most of their nuclear enrichment facilities and drastically diminish the danger of a nuclear arms race," they wrote.

"Not a drop of blood was spilt."

Scrapping the agreement would result "in another source of devastating conflict in the Middle East and beyond," they warned in an open letter published in several newspapers.

Trump has derided the deal as a capitulation to Tehran and has declared it no longer is in the US interest to maintain the sanctions relief his predecessor Barack Obama granted Iran in return for controls on its nuclear programme.

He has demanded that US lawmakers and European allies fix "disastrous flaws" in the deal or face a US exit, possibly as early as next month.

The MPs warned that ending the deal would spell "lasting damage to our credibility as international partners in negotiation, and more generally, to diplomacy as a tool to achieve peace and ensure security."

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will both travel to Washington next week on separate official visits, in part to lobby Trump on the Iran issue.

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Iran president: we don't intend any aggression in region
Tehran (AFP) April 18, 2018
President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that Iran "does not intend any aggression" against its neighbours but will continue to produce all the weapons it needs for its defence. "We tell the world that we will produce any weapons that we need, or if necessary we will procure them. We have not been waiting... and will not wait for your remarks or agreement," said Rouhani at a military parade in Tehran to mark the annual Army Day. "But at the same time we announce to our neighbouring countries in ... read more