U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the annual Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany February 16, 2019. REUTERS/Michael Dalder

MUNICH (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence pressed European countries on Saturday to withdraw from a nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, and urged them to be wary of using telecoms equipment supplied by Chinese provider Huawei.

“The time has come for our European partners to stand with us and with the Iranian people,” Pence told the Munich Security Conference. “The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.”

“The United States has also been very clear with our security partners on the threat posed by Huawei and other Chinese telecom companies,” he said. “We must protect our critical telecom infrastructure and America is calling on all our security partners to be vigilant”.