Trump pulls US from Iran nuclear deal, to revive sanctions

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he was reimposing economic sanctions on Iran and pulling the United States out of an international agreement aimed at stopping Tehran from obtaining a nuclear bomb.

The decision is likely to raise the risk of conflict in the Middle East, upset America’s European allies and disrupt global oil supplies, the Reuters News Agency reported. 

“I am announcing today [Tuesday] that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal,” Trump said at the White House. “In a few moments, I will sign a presidential memorandum to begin reinstating US nuclear sanctions on the Iranian regime. We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanctions.”

The United States will reimpose a wide array of Iran-related sanctions after the expiry of 90- and 180-day wind-down periods, including sanctions aimed at Iran’s oil sector and transactions with its central bank, the US Treasury said.

The 2015 deal, worked out by the United States, five other international powers and Iran, eased sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran limiting its nuclear program.

Trump says the agreement, the signature foreign policy achievement of Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, does not address Iran’s ballistic missile program, its nuclear activities beyond 2025 nor its role in conflicts in Yemen and Syria. 

Iran has ruled out renegotiating the agreement and threatened to retaliate, although it has not said exactly how, if Washington pulled out.

Renewing sanctions would make it much harder for Iran to sell its oil abroad or use the international banking system.

Saudi Arabia welcomed President Donald Trump’s decision on Tuesday.

“Iran used economic gains from the lifting of sanctions to continue its activities to destablise the region, particularly by developing ballistic missiles and supporting terrorist groups in the region,” according to a statement carried on Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television. 

Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia, a key US ally, has been at loggerheads with Shiite Iran for decades, and the countries have fought a long-running proxy war in the Middle East.

Also on Tuesday, the top European Union diplomat, Federica Mogherini, called on the international community to stick to the Iran nuclear deal despite Trump’s announcment of a US pull out. 

“I am particularly worried by the announcement tonight of new sanctions,” Mogherini said. 

“The European Union is determined to preserve it,” she said of the world powers’ 2015 agreement with Tehran. “Together with the rest of the international community, we will preserve this nuclear deal.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a televised address after Trump’s announcement, lauding the US president’s hard tack on Iran and alluding to the tensions over Syria.

“For months now, Iran has been transferring lethal weaponry to its forces in Syria, with the purpose of striking at Israel,” Netanyahu said. “We will respond mightily to any attack on our territory.”

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani vowed to remain in a nuclear deal “without Washington”, adding that Trump has a “history of undermining” international treaties.