U.S. President Donald Trump Tweets, 'Will Take Decision on Iran Deal Today'

United States President Donald Trump will announce a decision on the Iran nuclear deal at the White House on Tuesday afternoon. Taking to Twitter, President Trump wrote, "I will be announcing my decision on the Iran Deal tomorrow from the White House at 2:00 pm (ET)."

Trump is weighing on whether to continue waiving sanctions on Iran's energy and banking sector that were lifted as part of the 2015 JCPOA in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear program. Earlier, President Trump had said that he would decide on May 12, whether to continue to abide by the 2015 deal by waiving U.S. sanctions on Iran. Trump has repeatedly slammed the agreement, even before winning the White House, as the "worst deal ever" and had promised to tear it up on his first day in office.

However, the other signatories to the Iran P5+1 deal which include France, Germany and UK have said they will continue with the deal. The French president and German Chancellor Angela Merkel made back-to-back visits in April, while British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson spent Monday in Washington making media appearances and meeting with administration officials in an attempt to make a case for the deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that war could ensue if U.S. President Donald Trump withdraws from the 2015 deal, "We would open the Pandora's box. There could be war," Macron told German weekly magazine Der Spiegel. But he added: "I don't think that Donald Trump wants war." One European diplomat said it seems fairly clear that the administration will walk away from the deal, and described the chances that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the deal is formally known, will continue intact as "very small."

Earlier on Tuesday, the U.S. President lambasted former Secretary of State John Kerry over his "shadow diplomacy" to save the Iran deal, according to a media reports. President Trump tweeted, "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!"

The Boston Globe reported on Friday that Kerry met with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif twice to discuss the way to strategise the Iran nuclear deal. As per the report, Kerry, who was the lead negotiator of the deal under former President Barack Obama administration also discussed the same with French President Emmanuel Macron, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and top European Union foreign affairs official Federica Mogherini.

In a fresh warning, Iran on Sunday cautioned the U.S. that it would suffer "historic remorse" if it pulls out of a nuclear agreement with Tehran formally called as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The Iran nuclear deal was signed between six countries - Iran, US, Britain, Germany, Russia, France and China for lifting economic sanctions on Tehran in exchange for limitations to the country's nuclear programme. The deal guarantees that Iran's nuclear programme is developed only for peaceful purposes. Following the deal, Tehran had pledged to not develop or acquire nuclear weapons in exchange for the cancellation of decades-long sanctions imposed against the country. (With Agency inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 08, 2018 05:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).