World will not be hostage to Iran’s nuclear blackmail”
UAE AND SAUDI ARABIA WELCOME TRUMP’S DECISION TO WITHDRAW FROM IRAN DEAL
US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal last night plunged US relations with European allies into deep uncertainty, while bringing back to the forefront what Trump said was Tehran’s role as the “world’s leading state sponsor of terror.”
Trump had long criticised the Iran deal, negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama, as the “worst” ever. He had complained that it did not address threats from the country’s ballistic missile program or its involvement in fomenting regional conflicts, and that provisions of the deal that expire in the next decade would allow Iran to resume nuclear work.
“If I allowed this deal to stand, there would soon be a nuclear arms race in the Middle East,” Trump said. “Everyone would want their weapons ready by the time Iran had theirs.” He said that because of limits on international inspectors, they are “not able to prevent, detect or punish cheating” by Iran and “don’t have the unqualified right to inspect many important locations” including military bases. “America and the world will not be hostage to nuclear blackmail” by the Iranians, he said.
“This was a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,” Trump said at the White House in announcing his decision.
Threat of ballistic missiles
“It didn’t bring calm, it didn’t bring peace, and it never will. We cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement,” he said.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE welcomed Trump’s decision. “Iran used economic gains from the lifting of sanctions to continue its activities to destablise the region, particularly by developing ballistic missiles and supporting terrorist groups in the region,” said a Saudi statement carried on Al Arabiya television. The UAE said it supports the US decision and Trump’s Iran strategy and urged the international community “to respond positively to President Trump’s position to rid the Middle East of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction”.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his strong support for Trump’s decision. “Israel fully supports President Trump’s bold decision today to reject the disastrous nuclear deal... Leaving the current deal in place was a recipe for disaster, a disaster for our region, a disaster for the peace of the world,” he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who personally lobbied Trump to remain in the deal, said that “France, Germany, and the UK regret the US decision to leave the JCPOA.”
The chairman of European Union leaders, Donald Tusk, said Trump’s stance on Iran and international trade would “meet a united European approach”. Tusk said all 28 EU leaders would discuss both issues when they meet in Sofia next week. The UN secretary-general also urged the other signatories of the Iran nuclear deal to stick to their commitments. “I call on other JCPOA participants and all other member-states to support this agreement,” Antonio Guterres said.
The Iranian nuclear deal was reached in 2015 between Iran and Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US. Trump’s decision, widely anticipated by allies and analysts, was intended to force Iran to renegotiate an agreement the country’s leaders have said they will not revisit. Iranian president Hassan Rouhani threatened last night to resume uranium enrichment “without limit,” but said Tehran will remain committed to the multinational nuclear deal.