Trump to Announce Iran Deal Decision on Tuesday

May 7, 2018March 16, 2020

President Trump on Twitter has announced that he is planning to reveal his final decision on whether to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal at 2:00pm ET on Tuesday, just days ahead of the May 12 deadline.

I will be announcing my decision on the Iran Deal tomorrow from the White House at 2:00pm.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2018

The President has until this Saturday to decide on whether to extend the sanctions relief for 120-days that was previously imposed on Iran by Congress. Trump has threatened to withdraw from the deal, which provided Iran with relief from economic sanctions negotiated by former President Barack Obama and six other countries — France, Germany, Britain, China, Russia, and Iran in exchange for limiting Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity.

For months, Trump has indicated that he will exit the agreement unless substantial changes are made such as Iran curbing its ballistic missile program drastically and stopping Iran from supporting hostile acts in the region. European leaders, however have pressured Trump in the last few weeks to remain in the deal, while working to improve the pact. Republican lawmakers, many who were longtime critics are now agreeing with European leaders, urging the president to not withdraw from it and to keep the agreement by altering it.

Israel, on the other hand is pressing the president to kill the deal. Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that “Iran lied” from “new and conclusive” evidences of Project Amad that shows “incriminating blueprints, incriminating photos, incriminating videos and more.”

Earlier Monday morning, Trump blasted former Secretary of State John Kerry on twitter amid reports that Kerry had met quietly with Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif recently as part of a bid to preserve the nuclear deal and put pressure on the Trump administration to keep some form of the deal intact. Ahead of the deadline, Kerry has reportedly ramped up other meetings, speaking with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was foreign minister of Germany when the deal was negotiated; French President Emmanuel Macron, and European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini.

The United States does not need John Kerry’s possibly illegal Shadow Diplomacy on the very badly negotiated Iran Deal. He was the one that created this MESS in the first place!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2018

Iran’s president on Sunday said Iran is preparing for every possible scenario, including a deal without U.S. or no deal at all.

“We are not worried about America’s cruel decisions,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a live speech broadcasted on state T.V. “We are prepared for all scenarios and no change will occur in our lives next week. If we can get what we want from a deal without America, then Iran will continue to remain committed to the deal. What Iran wants is our interests to be guaranteed by its non-American signatories. In that case, getting rid of America’s mischievous presence will be fine for Iran.”