Trump to announce Iran nuclear deal decision on Tuesday

Britain, France and Germany made last-ditch appeals to US President Donald Trump not to abandon the Iran nuclear deal warning that scrapping it would spark an "escalation."

US President Donald Trump, seen here in a file picture, says he will announce his decision on whether the US will remain party to the Iran nuclear deal.
Reuters

US President Donald Trump, seen here in a file picture, says he will announce his decision on whether the US will remain party to the Iran nuclear deal.

President Donald Trump says he will announce his decision on whether to keep the US in the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday.

Trump is facing a self-imposed May 12 deadline over whether to uphold the 2015 nuclear deal, which he has long criticised. Trump has signalled he will pull out of the agreement by the deadline unless it is revised, but he faces intense pressure from European allies not to do so.

"I will be announcing my decision on the Iran Deal tomorrow from the White House at 2:00pm (1800GMT)," Trump tweeted on Monday.

Trump has been the subject of an intense lobbying effort by American allies to maintain the agreement, with British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson making a last-ditch appeal to the administration in a visit to Washington this week. 

European leaders say they are open to negotiating a side agreement with Iran but that the existing framework must remain untouched for that to happen.

Earlier on Monday, the foreign ministers of France and Germany say they will hold on to the nuclear agreement with Iran, regardless of the upcoming US decision on whether to nix the deal.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to cancel the 2015 accord restricting Iran's nuclear activities this week, saying it's flawed.

TRT World's Ira Spitzer reports more on this latest development from Berlin.

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France's top diplomat, Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking in Berlin on Monday said that the three European countries – France, Britain and Germany – that were part of the deal  are committed to maintaining it.

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Le Drian, who met Maas at the Villa Borsig, the government guest house in Berlin said, "We will continue it independently of the American decision."

His German counterpart, Heiko Maas, said Berlin, too, wants to stick by the deal, which he said "makes the world a safer place, and without it the world would be less safe."

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