French President Emmanuel Macron has said France, Germany and Britain regret US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
‘France, Germany, and the UK regret the U.S. decision to leave the JCPOA (Iran deal). The nuclear non-proliferation regime is at stake,’ he wrote on Twitter, speaking on behalf of the three nations.
‘We will work collectively on a broader framework, covering nuclear activity, the post-2025 period, ballistic activity, and stability in the Middle-East, notably Syria, Yemen, and Iraq,’ he added.
Trump signed a memorandum this afternoon formalising the withdrawal and re-imposition of economic sanctions on Iran, though it remains unclear whether the US with also sanction countries or foreign companies who continue to deal with regime.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said France, Germany and Britain regret US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson spent two days in Washington at the weekend making a last ditch push to save the agreement.
Lord William Hague warned today quitting the deal would show Kim Jong-Un the US cannot be trusted to ‘honour its word’.
But the attempt to change his mind failed tonight as Mr Trump told French President Emmanuel Macron he would press ahead.
Former Cabinet minister Lord Hague said withdrawing from the agreement would ‘broadcast a message that Washington does not honour its word’.
The warning comes after Boris Johnson used a trip to Washington to urge Mr Trump to be ‘realistic’ about what can be done to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions, saying there was no acceptable ‘Plan B’.
Mr Trump has fiercely criticised the deal negotiated under Barack Obama, which eased sanctions on Tehran in exchange for commitments to abandon its nuclear weapons programme.
US president Donald Trump has fiercely criticised the agreement with Iran, which eased sanctions in exchange for commitments to abandon its nuclear weapons programme
Former Cabinet minister Lord Hague (left) warned that Kim Jong-Un (right) would find it difficult to trust the word of the US if Trump rips up the Iran deal
Appearing on the Fox & Friends programme yesterday – known to be Mr Trump’s favourite news show – Mr Johnson said the president had a ‘legitimate point’ that the Iran pact was not perfect
There has been speculation he will stop short of torpedoing it altogether – potentially exempting European firms who trade with Iran from sanctions.
EU states have said they will try to hold the package together even if the US withdraws cooperation.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Lord Hague said that ripping up the deal would be a ‘very great error’.
He wrote: ‘If he is wavering, he should picture himself sitting across from Kim (Jong-Un) in the near future.
‘Ending the Iran deal would mean that what the US signs up to in one year, it can abrogate three years later.
‘And that in turn would not bode well for an agreement with North Korea or the stability of the Middle East – and thereby for the peace of the world.’
Appearing on the Fox & Friends programme yesterday – known to be Mr Trump’s favourite news show – Mr Johnson said the president had a ‘legitimate point’ that the pact was not perfect.
But he appealed for the US not to throw the ‘baby out with the bathwater’ by ditching the arrangements altogether.
‘If you do that you have to answer the question what next? ‘What if the Iranians do rush for a nuclear weapon?’ he said.
‘Are we seriously saying that we are going to bomb those facilities at Fordo and Natanz?
‘Is that really a realistic possibility? Or do we work round what we have got and push back on Iran together?’
Mr Johnson added: ‘Plan B does not seem to me to be particularly well-developed at this stage.’
In an article for the New York Times, Mr Johnson admitted the pact with Iran had ‘weaknesses’ but insisted it was the best way of defusing the standoff.
The Foreign Secretary is holding two days of talks with senior administration officials including vice president Mike Pence.
He will also meet national security adviser John Bolton and key foreign policy leaders in Congress – although he will not get to sit down with Mr Trump himself.
As well as Iran, Mr Johnson’s talks are expected to cover North Korea – ahead of President Trump’s planned meeting with Kim Jong-un – and the situation in Syria.
In a separate interview during the visit, Mr Johnson appeared to hold out an incentive for Mr Trump to do a deal on Iran – suggesting he could end up winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
He told Sky News: ‘If he can fix North Korea and if he can fix the Iran nuclear deal then I don’t see why he is any less of a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize than Barack Obama, who got it before he even did anything.’
Writing in the New York Times today, Mr Johnson said: ‘Of all the options we have for ensuring that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon, this pact offers the fewest disadvantages.
‘It has weaknesses, certainly, but I am convinced they can be remedied. Indeed at this moment Britain is working alongside the Trump administration and our French and German allies to ensure that they are.’
Mr Johnson said the deal had put restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programme and ‘now that these handcuffs are in place, I see no possible advantage in casting them aside’.
Iran president Hassan Rouhani has warned Mr Trump the West will regret ‘like never before’ if it sinks the nuclear deal with his country
‘Only Iran would gain from abandoning the restrictions on its nuclear programme,’ he warned, adding: ‘At this delicate juncture, it would be a mistake to walk away from the nuclear agreement and remove the restraints that it places on Iran.
‘The UK’s ambassador to the United States Sir Kim Darroch said the Iran agreement was ‘a good deal’ but efforts were ongoing to ‘find some language, produce some action that meets the president’s concerns’.
Mr Trump has threatened to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal signed by the US, China, Russia, Germany, France and Britain with Iran.
Under its terms Iran is committed to a peaceful nuclear energy programme.
But Mr Trump has been a vocal critic of the agreement and in January issued an ultimatum to ‘either fix the deal’s disastrous flaws, or the United States will withdraw’.
In a magazine interview, French President Emmanuel Macron warned a decision by Trump to withdraw could lead to war.
‘We would open the Pandora’s box. There could be war,’ Macron told German weekly magazine Der Spiegel, adding ‘I don’t think that Donald Trump wants war.’
Macron urged Trump not to withdraw when he met him in Washington late last month.
Earlier this month Mr Johnson stressed the importance of keeping the deal ‘while building on it in order to take account of the legitimate concerns of the US’.
The European Union has said the deal ‘is working and it needs to be preserved’.
French President Emmanuel Macron has warned scrapping the deal could lead to war and lobbied Mr Trump on a recent visit to Washington