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[webfact]

Rhetoric over U.S. exit from Iran deal rises amid threat of sanctions

By Valerie Volcovici and Richard Cowan

 

National Security Advisor John Bolton arrives before a joint news conference of U.S. President Donald Trump and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., April 27, 2018. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States threatened on Sunday to impose sanctions on European companies that do business with Iran, as the remaining participants in the Iran nuclear accord stiffened their resolve to keep that agreement operational.

 

White House national security adviser John Bolton said U.S. sanctions on European companies that maintain business dealings with Iran were "possible," while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he remained hopeful Washington and its allies could strike a new nuclear deal with Tehran.

 

Bolton struck a more hawkish tone with his comments in an interview with CNN's "State of the Union" program than Pompeo did on "Fox News Sunday."

 

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States was withdrawing from a 2015 deal negotiated by the Obama administration.

 

So far, China, France, Russia, Britain, Germany and Iran remain in the accord, which placed controls on Iran's nuclear program and led to a relaxation of economic sanctions against Iran and companies doing business there.

 

Despite the U.S. exit, Britain and Iran expressed their commitment on Sunday to ensuring that the accord is upheld, according to a statement released by British Prime Minister Theresa May's office.

 

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking in Dublin, declared: "We are stakeholders" and will remain so.

 

Germany said it would spend the next few months trying to persuade Washington to change its mind. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas acknowledged, however, that protecting European companies from potential U.S. penalties could be difficult.

 

Asked whether the United States might impose sanctions on European companies that continue to do business with Iran, Bolton told CNN: "It's possible. It depends on the conduct of other governments."

 

Pompeo said he was "hopeful in the days and weeks ahead we can come up with a deal that really works, that really protects the world from Iranian bad behaviour, not just their nuclear program, but their missiles and their malign behaviour as well."

 

The White House said Trump had spoken with French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday and "reiterated the need for a comprehensive deal that addresses all aspects of Iran's destabilising activity in the Middle East."

 

In a tweet on Sunday, Trump wrote: "Remember how badly Iran was behaving with the Iran Deal in place. They were trying to take over the Middle East by whatever means necessary. Now, that will not happen!"

 

TRYING 'TO PERSUADE' U.S.

The U.S. withdrawal from the Iran deal has upset Washington's European allies, cast uncertainty over global oil supplies and raised the risk of conflict in the Middle East.

 

Germany's minister for economic affairs, Peter Altmaier, said on Sunday that Berlin would try to "persuade the U.S. government to change its behaviour."

 

In an interview with ZDF public television, Altmaier noted the United States had set a 90-day deadline for foreign firms to comply with the return of sanctions and that this period could be used to convince Washington to change course.

 

Israel and Iran engaged in an extensive military exchange on the heels of Trump's decision to leave the deal. Macron told Trump in their telephone call on Saturday that he was worried about stability in the Middle East, according to Macron's office.

 

As a private citizen, Bolton suggested in the past that the United States push for a change in Iran's government. But in an interview on ABC's "This Week" program, Bolton said: "That's not the policy of the administration. The policy of the administration is to make sure that Iran never gets close to deliverable nuclear weapons."

 

In the CNN interview, Bolton did not respond directly when asked whether Trump might seek "regime change" in Iran, or whether the U.S. military would be ordered to make a pre-emptive strike against any Iranian nuclear facility.

 

"I'm not the national security decision-maker," Bolton said, adding that Trump "makes the decision and the advice that I give him is between us."

 

Bolton said Europe was still digesting Trump's move last week.

 

"I think at the moment there's some feeling in Europe - they're really surprised we got out of it, really surprised at the reimposition of strict sanctions. I think that will sink in; we'll see what happens then," Bolton said.

 

(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Warren Strobel in Washington, Michael Nienaber in Berlin and Conor Humphries in Dublin; Editing by Paul Simao and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-05-14

[Kiwiken]

The USA is the whole World right? Who are the Europeans, Chinese and Russians they are not as mature as the USA?

Perhaps if Sanctions were enacted tit for tat? One might get a different reaction.

[Morch]

12 minutes ago, Kiwiken said:

The USA is the whole World right? Who are the Europeans, Chinese and Russians they are not as mature as the USA?

Perhaps if Sanctions were enacted tit for tat? One might get a different reaction.

 

"Perhaps if Sanctions were enacted tit for tat? One might get a different reaction."

 

Good luck with that.

[Jonnapat]

So sick to death about reading and hearing of these totally bonkers people.

Dangerous as well I might add.

Can the US not mind it's own business for a change and put it's own house in order.

Sanctions on Europe? Beyond comprehension.

Just waiting for the next war , maybe not too long.

Good luck to the young.

[quandow]

Bolton has furthered the U.S. GOVERNMENT'S agenda to isolate itself from the rest of the world. This planet is too sick, too tired, too weary and becoming too aware of the real reason behind these endless wars. Israeli security forces have been training U.S. police who have now become a militarized arm of fascism. 20 years ago the brutality exhibited by these jackbooted thugs would have been completely unacceptable, now it's almost too late for Americans to revolt without getting killed. It's becoming The U.S. & Israel GOVERNMENTS against the rest of the world. And, again, it's the GOVERNMENTS, not the people, making global deadly policies.

[Morch]

58 minutes ago, Jonnapat said:

So sick to death about reading and hearing of these totally bonkers people.

Dangerous as well I might add.

Can the US not mind it's own business for a change and put it's own house in order.

Sanctions on Europe? Beyond comprehension.

Just waiting for the next war , maybe not too long.

Good luck to the young.

 

What does "mind it's own business" stand for? Does it imply the US should be part of international agreements or not?

 

As for "sanctions on Europe" - not quite. The sanctions in question are against Iran. They might effect companies doing business with Iran.

Edited May 15, 2018 by Morch

[connda]

I've seen this in elementary school.  Everyone is playing nicely until the biggest kid has a tantrum, steals the football, kicks it into the lake, and then threatens the rest of the kids with physical violence unless they leave the playground.  Nothing much has changed over the last 55 years. 

[farcanell]

16 hours ago, Morch said:

 

"Perhaps if Sanctions were enacted tit for tat? One might get a different reaction."

 

Good luck with that.

With USA having a huge trade deficit, perhaps countersanctions would significantly hinder trumptopian ideals of making America great again

 

of course, America was already great, with the POTUS being recognized as the most powerful man in the world ( by most), so what trump really meant, was make America greater, much like the call to arms by various other governments or countries thruout history

 

”forward for god and France”

”forward for god and England”

”forward for god and America”

 

the commonality is that they are all battle cries.

 

trump is alienating America from its allies, perhaps trusting that its military, will force these allies into de facto vassal states.... the alternative emergence of a realignment of alliances may not be in the interests of the average joe, not that trump would care about that.

[Srikcir]

On 5/14/2018 at 3:32 PM, webfact said:

The United States threatened on Sunday to impose sanctions on European companies that do business with Iran

It's such an irony and borderline insanity that while Trump makes this threat of economic sanctions also against four NATO allies (UK, France, Germany and Turkey), he is championing the survival of a Chinese telecom company's enterprise in the US so its employees don't lose their jobs.

It seems he's planning a new world order of US, Russia and China - just needs to get the US into an authoritarian regime and President for life.

[Scott]

Troll post reported and removed.