• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > World

Trump 'All But Decided' to Withdraw From Iran Nuclear Deal

  • U.S. President Donald Trump has been a strong critic of the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal.

    U.S. President Donald Trump has been a strong critic of the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal. | Photo: Reuters

Published 2 May 2018
Opinion

There is still a chance he may remain in it to maintain a close alliance with France's President Emmanuel Macron, sources told Reuters.

U.S. President Donald Trump has all but decided to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal in May, two White House officials and other sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

RELATED:
US Court Blames Iran for 9/11, Demands US$6BN for Victims

Although Trump is reportedly leaning strongly toward pulling out of the deal, there is still a chance he might remain in the international pact under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief, to maintain closer relationships with France's President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron, who has built a close relationship with Trump, has been acting as the liaison for European Union forces that would like to see the deal remain intact. The two presidents met last week, and Macron urged Trump to stay in the agreement.

Russia and China have also urged Trump to maintain the deal.

Trump has until May 12 to decide whether he will renew waivers suspending U.S. sanctions on Iran. Should he reinstate sanctions, it would be a breach of the deal's terms. An anonymous White House official told Reuters that Trump might make a decision that "is not a full pull-out," but didn't specify further.

The United Nations organization responsible for enforcing the terms of the agreement says that Iran has fully complied with the terms of the deal, but Trump claims they have violated the "spirit" of the agreement. Iran, meanwhile, denies ever seeking nuclear technology for non-peaceful purposes.

The agreement between Iran, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States has been heavily criticized by Trump, who called it "one of the worst deals."

Although some European officials, pushed by Trump, have been working to 'fix' the deal for the U.S. president, Iran has rejected any possibility of a 'new' deal.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.