Threatening war to keep us in a peace agreement? Clearly the Iranian mullahs are reliable “peace partners” indeed.
“Iran Threatens Harsh Reprisals After U.S. Exits Nuclear Deal,” by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, May 8, 2018:
Iranian leaders threatened harsh reprisals against the United States following President Donald Trump’s decision to abandon the landmark nuclear deal and reimpose a series of harsh sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under the original agreement, according to U.S. officials and regional reports.
Trump announced Tuesday afternoon that he will no longer abide by the deal, which he described as empowering Tehran’s nuclear and missile programs while providing little benefit for the world.
“The United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal,” Trump announced, before signing a presidential memorandum to reinstate U.S. nuclear sanctions on the Iranian regime.
Trump described these actions as “the highest level of economic sanctions” and said they could target any global business that does not wind down its business and investments in the Islamic Republic.
According to the White House, “the re-imposed sanctions will target critical sectors of Iran’s economy.”
The White House said there will be a period of time in which those doing business in Iran can wind down operations.
“Today we have definitive proof that this Iranian promise was a lie,” Trump said, referring to the recent disclosure by Israel that Iran hid its previous nuclear military work and retains the infrastructure to restart it at anytime. “At the heart of the Iran deal was a giant fiction.”
“It is clear to me that we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement. The Iran deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing, we know exactly what will happen.”
“If I allowed this deal to stand, there would soon be a nuclear arms race in the Middle East,” Trump said, outlining a litany of what he views as key flaws in the deal. “Everyone would want their weapons ready by the time Iran had theirs.”
The deal cannot be fixed, Trump said, after months of negotiations between U.S. officials and European allies. Trump said he is willing negotiate a new deal, a term that Iranian leaders have rejected outright.
White House National Security Adviser John Bolton told reporters immediately following Trumps’ remarks that sanctions on Iran will be “immediately” reinstated. This means that businesses cannot engage in any new contracts with the Islamic Republic, though businesses currently engaged in work will be given a period of time to wind down their business interests….