China and India seen as Europe's last hope to save Iran deal

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BRUSSELS/PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union will defend the Iran nuclear accord despite Tehran's decision to backtrack on its commitments in response to U.S. sanctions, diplomats believe, but European powers expect it to collapse without a deal to sell Iranian oil to China or India. Britain, France and Germany, which signed the 2015 deal along with the United States, China and Russia, are determined to show they can compensate for last year's U.S. withdrawal from the accord, protect trade and still prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb. A French diplomat talked of a "negative spiral" in which trade in food and medicines was simply not enough, while another European envoy spoke of Iran's "phased exit" from the deal.