Trump condemned as US pulls out of Iran nuclear deal
‘When I make promises I keep them’
DONALD Trump faced global condemnation last night after the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear agreement.
As the President inflamed tensions in the already volatile region, Theresa May, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel said his decision had been met with ‘regret and concern’.
In a joint statement, the French, British and German leaders said ‘the world was a safer place’ because of the deal and pledged to remain committed to it.
But Mr Trump said he was walking away from the 2015 pact in order to stop a ‘nuclear bomb’ being acquired by the ‘world’s leading state sponsor of terror’.
Announcing ‘powerful’ sanctions for Iran, he claimed failing to withdraw from the agreement would lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
And he warned that, if Iran developed weapons, Tehran would have ‘ bigger problems then it has ever had before’.
However, Iran’s president responded by saying that if negotiations failed over the nuclear deal, it would enrich uranium ‘more than before… in the next weeks’.
Mrs May, Mr Macron and Mrs Merkel – who each spoke to the President about the decision over the past few days – said they remained committed to the deal that was ‘important for our shared security’. They also urged Tehran ‘to show restraint in response’ to the US decision.
In a much anticipated statement from the White House, Mr Trump said: ‘If I allowed this deal to stand there would soon be a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Everyone would want their weapons ready by the time Iran had theirs.
‘We cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotting structure of the current agreement. The Iran deal is defective at its core.
‘In just a short period of time the world’s leading state sponsor of terror would be on the cusp of acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapons.’
Under the agreement, Iran had agreed to limit nuclear activities in return for easing economic sanctions. Tehran claimed at the time it had pursued only nuclear energy rather than weapons.
But Mr Trump said that, since the deal, ‘Iran’s bloody ambitions have grown only more brazen’ and the pact ‘didn’t bring calm, it didn’t bring peace, and it never will’.
The President, who had committed to scrapping the deal during his election campaign, pointed out that Iran had boosted its military spend, supported terrorism and ‘ caused havoc’ throughout the Middle East and beyond.
He said that he had spoken to France, Germany, Britain and friends across the Middle East who were ‘unified’ in their conviction that Iran must never deliver nuclear weapons. He went on: ‘America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail.
‘The US no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises I keep them.’
However, the President said he would be open to a new deal in future. Mr Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, who signed the deal, said the ‘misguided’ decision could even lead the US into war.
He said: ‘At a time when we are all rooting for diplomacy with North Korea to succeed, walking away... risks losing a deal that accomplishes – with Iran – the very outcome that we are pursuing with the North Koreans.
‘We all know the dangers of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.
‘It could embolden an already dangerous regime; threaten our friends with destruction; pose unacceptable dangers to America’s own security; and trigger an arms race in the world’s most dangerous region.’
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said there was a ‘short time’ to negotiate with the countries remaining in the nuclear deal.
He told state TV: ‘I have ordered Iran’s atomic organisation that whenever it is needed, we will start enriching uranium more than before.’ The UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said he was deeply concerned by the US decision, while the EU’s diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said Brussels was ‘determined’ to preserve the deal.
Tensions were already heightened after Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his nation’s spies had stolen thousands of files on Iran’s nuclear programme. On Sunday, he said Israel would rather face a confrontation with Iran ‘now than later’.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had travelled to Washington on Saturday, making a last-ditch bid to stop Mr Trump pulling out of the agreement.
The US decision to pull out of the Iran deal could mean more expensive fuel for drivers.
It is feared that re-instating economic sanctions could hammer Iranian oil exports, pushing up prices. The RAC warned that motorists would end up paying far more at the pumps as a result.