President Trump is expected to announce Tuesday he will not continue sanctions relief for Iran, a major step toward ending the 2015 nuclear pact he…
President Trump is expected to announce Tuesday he will not continue sanctions relief for Iran, a major step toward ending the 2015 nuclear pact he has long blasted as the “worst deal ever.”
Specifics about the steps Trump is expected to take are still unknown, such as how long it might take to reimpose sanctions on Iran that were lifted under the deal.
Trump will reveal his decision to the public at 2 p.m. in the Diplomatic Room of the White House.
Regional experts and foreign leaders alike expect Trump to move toward pulling out of the deal, which was negotiated by President Obama’s administration.
The announcement will follow weeks of furious lobbying by European allies who sought to convince Trump to remain in the deal.
They wanted to negotiate a side agreement that would assuage the president’s concerns, such as ballistic missile activity and Iran’s military interventions in the Middle East.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson made a last-minute visit to the White House on Monday to argue his case to senior officials, following presidential meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
But each one left the U. S. pessimistic about the deal’s future.
“My view — I don’t know what your president will decide — is that he will get rid of this deal on his own, for domestic reasons,” Macron told a group of reporters late last month.
Trump promised during the 2016 campaign to pull the U. S. out of the agreement and has consistently derided the Obama-era pact since taking office. But on multiple previous occasions, he has been convinced by advisers to extend sanctions relief under the agreement.
The president appears to determined to follow through on his campaign promise this time around. He took to Twitter early Tuesday morning to blast former Secretary of State John Kerry, who has reportedly met with Iran’s top diplomat to discuss ways to salvage the deal.
“John Kerry can’t get over the fact that he had his chance and blew it! Stay away from negotiations John, you are hurting your country!” Trump wrote.
The U. S. and five other nations entered into the agreement with Iran three years ago. The Iran agreed to restrict its nuclear activities to prevent it from developing a weapon in exchange for sanctions relief.
If the deal falls apart, Iran could decide to eject nuclear inspectors and resume uranium enrichment and weapons development.
The Trump administration has not said how it plans to handle Tehran’s nuclear ambitions absent the nuclear agreement, nor has it explained how it will address foreign banks and other companies who do business with Iran if sanctions go back into place.
