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News ID: 45402
Publish Date : 17 October 2017 - 20:59

Trump: ‘Total Termination’ of Iran Deal Possible


WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that a "total termination" of the Iran nuclear deal remains possible, after refusing to certify the 2015 accord and leaving its fate to Congress.
Speaking to reporters ahead of a cabinet meeting, he said: "I feel strongly about what I did I'm tired of being taken advantage of.
"It might be total termination, that's a real possibility, some would say that's a greater possibility."
His comments came as the EU announced it was sending its chief diplomat to Washington next month to fight to save an accord that saw Tehran dramatically scale back its nuclear program in return for partial lifting of sanctions.
Trump alarmed allies across the Atlantic with a belligerent speech on Friday in which he stopped short of pulling out of the agreement but warned he could do so at any time, restating his claim that the deal was letting Iran off the hook.
EU ministers have warned that ditching the deal when Iran has repeatedly been certified as keeping up its end of the bargain would send a signal to the world that negotiating with the international community is a waste of time.
After a meeting in Luxembourg, EU ministers said a failure to uphold the international agreement could have serious consequences for regional peace.
After a closed-door meeting chaired by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Iran, the ministers issued a joint statement saying the 2015 deal was key to preventing the global spread of nuclear weapons.
"The EU is committed to the continued full and effective implementation of all parts of the JCPOA," it said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name of the accord with Iran agreed in July 2015 in Vienna.
"Non-proliferation is a major element of world security and rupturing that would be extremely damaging," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters. "We hope that Congress does not put this accord in jeopardy."
Mogherini said she would travel to Washington early next month to try to muster support for the accord.
Britain and France are firmly committed to the nuclear deal and will work to ensure it is enforced, British Prime Minister Theresa May's office said on Monday after she spoke to French President Macron.
May and Macron, however, said that France and Britain would work together to push back on what they called Iran's destabilizing activity in the region, May's office said in a statement after the phone call.
In Tehran, a senior official said Iran will not accept European countries’ call for the attachment of conditions to the nuclear agreement.
"Saying that the Europeans endorse the JCPOA but should negotiate on regional issues and Iran's missile program is making the JCPOA conditional, and this is not acceptable to us at all,” Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, told reporters on Tuesday.
There is broad support among U.S. lawmakers for fresh pressure on Iran over its continued missile development and its advisory military role in the fight against terrorists in the region - factors that Trump claims violate the "spirit" of the agreement.
Tehran has warned such action would mean Washington had broken its end of the bargain, and thus likely signal the end of its own compliance.