Trump says US pulling out of Iran nuclear agreement
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was reimposing economic sanctions on Iran and pulling the United -States out of an international agreement aimed at stopping Tehran from obtaining a nuclear bomb.
The decision is likely to raise the risk of conflict in the Middle East, upset America’s European allies and disrupt global oil supplies.
“I am announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal,” Trump said at the White House. “In a few moments, I will sign a presidential memorandum to begin reinstating US nuclear sanctions on Iran. We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanctions.”
The 2015 deal, worked out by the United States, five other international powers and Iran, eased sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran limiting its nuclear programme.
Trump says the agreement, the signature foreign policy achievement of Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, does not address Iran’s ballistic missile programme, its nuclear activities beyond 2025 nor its role in the region.
Iran has ruled out renegotiating the agreement and threatened to retaliate, although it has not said exactly how, pulled out.
Iranian state television said on Tuesday that Trump’s decision was “illegal, illegitimate and undermines international agreements”.
President Emmanuel Macron said France would work on a broader agreement covering Iran’s nuclear activity, ballistics programme and regional activities after Trump said he was withdrawing the US from a 2015 nuclear deal.
“We will work collectively on a broader framework, covering nuclear activity, the post-2025 period, ballistic activity, and stability in the Middle East, notably Syria, Yemen, and Iraq,” Macron said on Twitter moments after Trump spoke.
The top European Union diplomat, Federica Mogherini, called on the international community to stick to the Iran nuclear deal despite US President Donald Trump announcing he was pulling out and would reimpose sanctions on Tehran. if Washington