Iran breaking nuclear deal, rules Trump
Donald Trump will effectively scrap the Iran nuclear deal because he does not think it is in the national interest of the United States, reports stated. The move could lead to renewed US sanctions against Iran, unnamed senior administration officials said. He said last night that the US “must put an end to Iran’s continued aggression”. The president is expected to give a speech on Oct 12 in which he will blame Iran for fuelling terrorism and causing instability throughout the Middle East.
DONALD TRUMP said last night that the US “must put an end to Iran’s continued aggression” amid reports he will “decertify” the nuclear deal next week.
The move could lead to renewed US sanctions against Iran, unnamed senior administration officials said.
Mr Trump is expected to give a major foreign policy speech on Thursday, in which he will blame Iran for fuelling terrorism and causing instability throughout the Middle East. The speech is said to mark a shift to a more confrontational policy towards Tehran.
The US president said last night that Iran had not lived up to the spirit of the nuclear deal. “We must not allow Iran ... to obtain nuclear weapons,” Mr Trump said during a meeting with military leaders at the White House.
“The Iranian regime supports terrorism and exports violence, bloodshed and chaos across the Middle East. That is why we must put an end to Iran’s continued aggression and nuclear ambitions.”
Asked about whether he would “decertify” the deal, he said: “You’ll be hearing about Iran very shortly.”
If Mr Trump states that Iran has not been complying with the terms of the nuclear deal, designed to prevent the country obtaining a nuclear weapon, the fate of the deal would be in the hands of Congress, which would would then have 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions suspended under the agreement.
The Republican has been a frequent critic of the Iran nuclear pact, a signature foreign policy achievement of Barack Obama, his Democratic predecessor, which was signed in 2015 by the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, the EU and Iran.
The move to end the deal has been widely opposed by European leaders. The British, French, German and European Union ambassadors to the US participated in a meeting on Capitol Hill on Wednesday that spelt out the consequences of the collapse of the deal.
Last month, Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, urged the world to have faith in the potential of the deal to create a more open Iran.
“We in the UK feel that Iran – a country of 80 million people – many of them young and potentially liberal – could be won over. It is important they see there are benefits from the JCPOA (an acronym for the nuclear agreement), so we want that alive,” Mr Johnson said.
Supporters of the deal say its collapse could trigger a regional arms race and increase Middle East tensions. Opponents say it went too far in easing sanctions without requiring that Iran end its nuclear programme permanently.
Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president, said last month he would not renegotiate the terms of the deal. He warned that cancelling the deal “would carry a high cost for the United States of America”. ♦ Washington is lobbying Britain to send more troops back to Afghanistan, with the Pentagon concerned the UK’S plans to back Mr Trump’s mini surge in the country are “not enough”. The US wants Nato allies to send an extra 1,000 troops. Pentagon chiefs are understood to be unimpressed with Britain’s pledge to boost its own contingent by 85 to 600.