Trump Decision On Iran Deal Coming Tuesday

Donald Trump Image by Getty Images

By JTA May 7, 2018

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Trump said he would announce his decision on whether and how to stay in the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday.

“I will be announcing my decision on the Iran deal tomorrow from the White House at 2:00 pm,” Trump said Monday afternoon on Twitter.

Trump has signaled that he would like to exit the deal, which trades sanctions relief for a rollback in Iran’s nuclear program. He has called the 2015 deal between Iran and six major powers, including the United States, the “worst deal ever.” Trump seems as major flaws the deal’s omissions of restraints on Iran’s missile program, and its “sunset clauses,” that will allow Iran to resume some fissile material enrichment within a decade.

Looming is a May 12 deadline for Trump to waive sanctions, according to the provisions of the deal. He has come under intense pressure from allies on both sides of the question: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants Trump to “fix it or nix it,” walk away from the deal or reopen it for negotiations. Trump’s closest European ally, French President Emmanuel Macron, last month visited Washington and made the case to Trump and Congress that it should preserve the deal.

Netanyahu released what he said was recent intelligence suggesting that Iran was far more advanced toward developing a nuclear weapon than it had let on in 2015, when the deal was concluded. Macron has pressed Trump to increase pressure on Iran through non-nuclear sanctions and diplomatic pressure.

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