Washington DC: United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday called the 2015 Iran nuclear deal “insane,” saying that “it should have never ever been made.”
At a joint press conference with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in the White House, President Trump called Iran’s leaders “butchers.”
While giving a stern warning to Tehran, Trump said, “We’re going to see what happens on the 12th (May) but Iran threatens us in any way they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid,” CBS News reported.
“It will be possible to do a new deal with solid foundations because this is a deal with decayed foundations, it’s a bad deal, it’s a bad structure, it’s falling down and it should have never ever been made,” President Trump added.
The US President has been pressing for new sanctions to be imposed on Iran’s ballistic missile programme, more “intrusive international inspections” of nuclear sites in the country and permanent restrictions on Tehran’s potential to develop atomic bombs and weapons, according to Politico.
President Macron, who arrived in the US on Sunday on a three-day visit, echoed his American counterpart’s views, saying that France was keen to develop a new nuclear deal with Iran until 2025, adding that he wanted limitations on the nuclear programme, in a bid to stamp out Tehran’s “regional influence” in the Middle East.
“But we have to take it as part of the broader picture, which is security in the overall region,” the French President said on the Iran deal.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said that if the US President did pull out from the deal, it would most likely abandon its nuclear programme. Just hours before the joint press conference, Zarif threatened “severe consequences,” if Washington D.C. exited the Iran deal.
In January, Trump had called on the US’ European allies to fix the “terrible flaws” in the Iran deal and warned that his country would pull out if the demands were not met. He had also slapped new sanctions on 14 individuals and entities for allegedly committing human rights abuses in Iran or supporting the country’s ballistic missile programmes.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has repeatedly maintained that Tehran will continue to produce missiles for defence purposes and does not believe the new sanctions imposed to be a violation of international accords.
Furthermore, according to media reports, global oil prices reached a new high of USD 75 a barrel, which was the steepest rise since 2014, after Trump called the Iran deal “insane”.
Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, reached a high of USD 75.47 a barrel in London, while American benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, saw prices soaring to as high as USD 69.38 a barrel.
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.
ANI