Allies vow to save Iran deal minus US
After President Donald Trump announced yesterday that the United States would withdraw from the Iran nuclear accord, key US allies and others voiced concern about the fallout but vowed to salvage the deal.
Chief among the critics was French President Emmanuel Macron, who was Europe’s leading emissary to Washington in efforts to defend the deal and who has sought to cultivate a strong personal rapport with Trump.
Macron spoke on the phone with his American counterpart earlier yesterday about ‘‘peace and stability in the Middle East.’’ But after Trump’s announcement, the French president immediately expressed his disappointment on social media and later joined German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May in a joint statement noting their ‘‘regret and concern.’’
‘‘Together, we emphasise our continuing commitment to the JCPOA,’’ their statement read, using the abbreviation for the deal’s official name, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. ‘‘This agreement remains important for our shared security.’’
For many in Europe, Trump’s decision was no surprise: He has been a longtime critic of the Iran agreement – a signature foreign policy achievement of the Obama administration – which placed curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for lifting international sanctions. Throughout his presidential campaign, he promised to undo the 2015 deal, and yesterday, after months of deliberations, he did, saying he would reinstate nuclear-related economic sanctions against Tehran.
Inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog agency have said Iran is in compliance with the accord. But Trump has taken issue with provisions that lift some restrictions on Iran’s nuclear efforts in years to come, and he never accepted the premise that it was the best near-term strategy to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.
‘‘At the heart of the Iran deal was a giant fiction that a murderous regime desired only a peaceful nuclear energy programme,’’ he said in televised remarks at the White House.
‘‘We cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement.’’
An American exit threatens the entire accord. Tehran was lured to the bargaining table by the prospect of an injection of international investment to buoy its economy. A renewal of sanctions would give the country’s leaders little reason to adhere to their part of the deal.
But after Trump’s remarks, the cosignatories of the agreement – France, Britain, Germany, Russia, China, the European Union and Iran – said they would seek to save it.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani ordered his diplomats to negotiate with their European, Russian and Chinese counterparts, though he threatened that Iran would commence unlimited uranium enrichment if the continued negotiations do not yield results within several weeks. The Europeans, likewise, insisted on fighting to keep the deal in force. ‘‘We urge the US to ensure that the structures of the JCPOA can remain intact, and to avoid taking action which obstructs its full implementation by all other parties to the deal,’’ Macron, Merkel and May said in their statement.– Washington Post