Donald Trump withdraws from Iran nuclear deal

Malcolm Turnbull says he “regrets” Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the Iran nuclear deal.

Donald Trump has declared the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, describing Tehran as a murderous regime which must never be allowed to develop a nuclear bomb.

In his most sweeping foreign policy decision as president, Mr Trump said the US would now reimpose the toughest possible sanctions against Iran and against any other nation that helped it to build a nuclear weapon capability.

“We cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement,’ he said.

“In just a short period of time the world’s leading state sponsor of terror will be on the cusp of acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapon,” Mr Trump said.

“We will not allow a regime that chants ‘Death to America’ to gain access to the most deadly weapons on earth.”

Malcolm Turnbull this morning said it was regrettable the US President had withdrawn from the deal as the agreement was the most effective mechanism the world had of monitoring the rogue nation.

“We do regret the US pulling out of the Iran deal, we believe it was the best option to maintain the ability to verify Iran’s compliance with its commitments on nuclear development.” he said.

PM @TurnbullMalcolm: We regret the US pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal. It was the best option to maintain the ability to verify Iran's compliance with nuclear development.

MORE: https://t.co/v8sfe073Ko #FirstEdition pic.twitter.com/MP4Ho0SKjJ

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 8, 2018

The Australian PM said he believed Europe would maintain their commitment and urged all parties to show restraint.

“We’d urge all parties to show restraint, the Europeans I believe will continue with the deal and we hope Iran will too, so its important to maintain restraint.”

The move kills the signature foreign policy achievement of his predecessor Barack Obama and comes despite intense lobbying by America’s European allies to remain in the deal. Australia had also supported the US remaining in the six-nation pact.

Mr Trump said that at the heart of the 2015 Iran deal was a ‘giant fiction’ that a ‘murderous regime’ desired only a peaceful nuclear energy program.

The president said recent evidence outlined by Israel proved how Iran had lied about its nuclear ambitions and had sought to cover up its clandestine nuclear weapons program in the 1990s.

“This was a horrible one sided deal that should have never ever been made,” he said. “It didn’t bring calm, it didn’t bring peace and it never will.”

“The United States no longer makes empty threats,” he said. “When I make promises, I keep them.”

The 2015 deal signed by the US, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia, lifted a raft of economic sanctions against Iran in return for curbs and regular inspection of its nuclear program to ensure it did not pursue a nuclear weapons program. Mr Obama had argued the deal was the best way to prevent Iran becoming a nuclear weapons power.

But Mr Trump said today that the deal provided only “weak limits” on Iran’s nuclear capability and did nothing to address other security concerns such as Iran’s ballistic missile program and its sponsorship of state terrorism in the Middle East.

Iran's president Hassan Rouhani. Picture: AFP.

The US has acknowledged that Iran has not been in breach of the conditions of the nuclear deal.

Iran has previously warned of severe consequences if the US walked away from the agreement, including the possibly reactivation of prohibited elements of its nuclear program.

After Mr Trump’s announcement, France’s President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: “France, Germany and the United Kingdom regret the US decision to get out of the Iranian nuclear deal. The international regime against nuclear proliferation is at stake.”

France, Germany and Britain had argued that the nuclear deal could be maintained while still dealing separately with concerns about Iran’s ballistic missile program and its destabilising actions in the region.

They claimed this could have been done by negotiating add-on agreements rather than tearing up the nuclear agreement.

EU Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini said Europe was “determined to preserve” the Iran deal despite the US withdrawal.

Mr Trump campaigned heavily on ending the Iranian nuclear deal but was reluctantly persuaded by his advisers to remain in the deal for his first year as president.

But the recent replacement of national security adviser HR McMaster and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with the more hawkish John Bolton and Mike Pompeo helped persuade the president that a full US withdrawal was justified.

Israel’s president Benjamin Netanyahu described Mr Trump’s decision as a “Historic move,” saying “Israel thanks Mr Trump for his courageous leadership.”

House minority leader, Democrat Nancy Pelosi said the president’s decision was “dangerous and impulsive.”

“Today is a sad day for America’s global leadership,” she said. “The Trump Administration’s dangerous and impulsive action is no substitute for real global leadership.”

The US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said Mr Trump “absolutely made the right decision” to leave the Iran nuclear deal.

“This was a terrible deal that only allowed Iran’s bad international conduct to worsen,” she said.

The US Treasury Department said sanctions which had been lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear deal would be reimposed on Iran subject to certain 90-day and 180-day wind-down periods.

Iran pushback inevitable

Iran president, Hassan Rouhani, has called on other countries to defy the “pesky” US president Donald Trump so that its nuclear deal could be preserved, while instructing his Iranian atomic energy agency to begin enrichment of uranium in what could be the first steps in a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Within minutes three countries, Britain, France and Germany came out in support of Iran and have emphasised their continuing agreement of the now disputed nuclear deal.

“This is a psychological war, we won’t allow Trump to win,” Mr Rouhani said, noting that he was happy that “the pesky being’’ has left the nuclear deal known as JCPOA.

“This is not an agreement between Iran and the US. For US to announce it’s pulling out, it’s a multilateral agreement, endorsed by the UN security council resolution 2231, America’s official announcement today showed that their disregard for international commitments.

“Our people saw that the only regime that supports Trump is the illegitimate Zionist regime, the same regime that killed our nuclear scientists”

Mr Rouhani added that the agreement may be able to survive if the other countries co-operate with Iran.

French president Emmanuel Macron, British prime minister Theresa May and German chancellor Angela Merkel issued a joint response expressing “regret and concern’’ over Mr Trump’s withdrawal of the US from the JCPOA but emphasised their continuing commitment to the deal.

”Together, we emphasise our continuing commitment to the JCPoA,’’ the statement said.

“We urge all sides to remain committed to its full implementation and to act in a spirit of responsibility.’’

Germany, France and Britain said that according to the Atomic Agency monitor IAEA, Iran continues to abide by the restrictions set out by the JCPOA.

”The world is a safer place as a result,’’ the three leaders said in a statement. “Therefore we, the E3, will remain parties to the JCPOA. Our governments remain committed to ensuring the agreement is upheld, and will work with all the remaining parties to the deal to ensure this remains the case including through ensuring the continuing economic benefits to the Iranian people that are linked to the agreement.’’

Meanwhile the International Institute for Strategic Studies has warned the US withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal ”gives a new writ to nuclear lawlessness’’ and could provoke an Iranian backlash and stimulate a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

Mark Fitzpatrick, the executive director of IISS-Americas warned that Iran will push back to show it cannot be bullied.

“It (Iran) will take some steps in the nuclear realm, to increase enrichment activity and decrease co-operation with inspectors,’’ he said.

”Iran’s main response, however, will probably be asymmetrical, harming US interests in other realms, such as Syria and Iraq. While it may not be immediate, a push-back is inevitable.’’

But Mr Fitzpatrick said Mr Trump’s decision may also unleash pent-up potential for a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

“When Iran expands its enrichment program without the careful verification required under the JCPOA, Saudi Arabia will feel compelled to follow suit,’’ he said.

“As long as Iran was constrained and closely inspected, the Saudis could afford to put off their nuclear ambitions. Now their calculations change. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons will also become more vulnerable. Trump’s rejection of the diplomatic solution to the Iran nuclear crisis undermines multilateral diplomacy and the very underpinnings of the nuclear order. It gives a new writ to nuclear lawlessness, since Iran’s having abided by the agreed rules will be proven to have been in vain.”

Mr Fitzpatrick said Mr Trump’s imposition of sanctions would create the deepest divisions between Europe and the United States since the Iraq war. He said American credibility world wide would slide and the administration would be seen as ”senseless and arrogant’’.

Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia

Additional reporting by Remy Varga