President Donald Trump has said that, after two weeks of mixed signals, even Iran may be confused about its future relationship with the United States.Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: “With all of the Fake and Made Up News out there, Iran can have no idea what is actually going on.” Mr Trump said he hoped the US was not on a path to war with Iran, but some wonder if his two most hawkish advisers could be angling for such a confrontation. A day earlier he expressed a desire for dialogue, tweeting: “I’m sure that Iran will want to talk soon.” But Tehran has showed no outward sign of preparing to talk.Mr Trump’s recent tone contrasted with a series of moves by the US and Iran that have sharply escalated tensions in the Middle East in recent days. For the past year, national security adviser John Bolton and secretary of state Mike Pompeo have been the public face of the administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.On Friday, an … [Read more...] about Trump: Iran has no idea what is actually going on
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Mogherini puts hopes in China and India to save Iran deal
The European Union will defend the Iran nuclear accord despite Tehran’s decision to backtrack on its commitments in response to US sanctions, diplomats believe, but European powers expect it to collapse without a deal to sell Iranian oil to China or India. Britain, France and Germany, which signed the 2015 deal along with the United States, China and Russia, are determined to show they can compensate for last year’s US withdrawal from the accord, protect trade and still prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb. But with Iran’s economy dependent on crude exports that are traded in US dollars, a promised European trade channel to bypass American sanctions has proved complicated, is not yet operational, and may never be able to handle oil sales. “This situation now risks deteriorating, but it will be step by step and not a collapse all in one go,” said a senior European diplomat. A French diplomat talked of a “negative spiral” in which trade … [Read more...] about Mogherini puts hopes in China and India to save Iran deal
2020 Democrats want new Iran deal instead of Trump’s working sanctions
opinion Ilan Berman Opinion contributor Published 6:00 AM EDT Mar 24, 2019 Quite suddenly, Iran is emerging as a 2020 election issue. In an already-crowded field of contenders for the Democratic nomination for president, the question of Iran — and specifically, how best to address the country’s persistent nuclear ambitions — is steadily rising in prominence. With more and more candidates dipping their toes into the Democratic presidential race, advocacy groups supportive of President Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal with Iran — and hostile to the Trump administration’s decision to reimpose economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic — are ramping up their lobbying efforts. Middle East news website Al-Monitor reports that one in particular, National Security Action, has circulated a draft memo to all declared Democratic candidates urging them to publicly commit to bringing the United States back into the nuclear deal … [Read more...] about 2020 Democrats want new Iran deal instead of Trump’s working sanctions
US urges Europe to quit Iran deal, stop busting sanctions
The US lashed out at some of its closest allies Thursday, accusing Britain, France and Germany of trying to bust US sanctions against Iran and calling on European nations to join the United States in withdrawing from the Iran deal. In an unusually blunt speech to a Middle East conference in Poland, US Vice President Mike Pence slammed the three countries and the European Union as a whole for remaining parties to the landmark 2015 agreement after President Donald Trump withdrew from it last year and re-imposed tough sanctions on Iran.The harsh criticism threatened to further chill US-European ties that are already badly strained on many issues, including trade and defense spending. And it underscored the stark two-year trans-Atlantic divide over Iran that manifested itself again ahead of the Warsaw conference co-hosted by the US and Poland.France and Germany declined to send their top diplomats to the ministerial-level meeting. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini also stayed … [Read more...] about US urges Europe to quit Iran deal, stop busting sanctions
Pence says EU must withdraw from Iran deal & stop trying to ‘break up’ sanctions on ‘vile regime’
US Vice-President Mike Pence has demanded that Europe withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and lashed out at the EU’s efforts to evade Washington’s sanctions on Tehran. Speaking at a security conference in Warsaw, Pence chastized Europe for leading an “effort to create mechanisms to break up our sanctions” against Iran, and complained that European countries had not been “cooperative” since the Trump administration withdrew from the Iran deal last year. “The time has come for our European partners to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal” and join with the US to give the Iranian people and the world “peace, security and freedom,” he said. Also on rt.com Russia, Iran & Turkey talk long-term Syrian peace in Sochi as US and allies beat war drums in Warsaw Pence said the EU’s newly created Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), conceived as a way to continue facilitating trade between the EU and Iran, was an … [Read more...] about Pence says EU must withdraw from Iran deal & stop trying to ‘break up’ sanctions on ‘vile regime’