The European Union approved the Iran nuclear deal with world powers yesterday, a first step towards lifting Europe’s economic sanctions against Tehran that the bloc hopes will send a signal that the US Congress will follow.

In a message mainly aimed at sceptical voices in the US Congress and strong resistance from Israel, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels stressed that there was no better option available.

“It is a balanced deal that means Iran won’t get an atomic bomb,” said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

It is a balanced deal that means Iran won’t get an atomic bomb

Ministers waited until the UN Security Council also voted to endorse the July 14 accord and then issued a nine-point text formally committing to a gradual lifting of sanctions along with the US and the UN Ministers agreed that: “the lifting of economic and financial sanctions would come into effect once the International Atomic Energy Agency has verified that Iran has implemented its nuclear-related commitments”. They also urged the deal’s full implementation and said the agreement could transform the Middle East.

“Iran is back in the international community,” said Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister whose country holds the rotating six-month EU presidency.

Following the deal in Vienna, Iran has agreed to long-term curbs on a nuclear programme that the West suspected was aimed at creating an atomic bomb, but which Tehran says is peaceful.

The EU will retain its ban on the supply of ballistic missile technology and sanctions related to human rights, EU diplomats said.