Trump scraps Iran nuclear deal

UPDATE: Iran appears willing to negotiate changes to the 2015 nuclear agreement with the countries that remain part of the accord. Speaking on live television, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said he would send his foreign minister to the countries that remain, including Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia. But he said he would give them only a “short time” to come up with a solution. “I have ordered Iran’s atomic organization that whenever it is needed, we will start enriching uranium more than before,” he warned, adding that could happen “in the next weeks.” French President Emmanuel Macron, who visited Washington last week to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to remain in the accord, tweeted his “regret” at the U.S. decision. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu applauded the move, calling the nuclear deal “a recipe for disaster, a disaster for our region, a disaster for the peace of the world.” Republican lawmakers also praised Trump. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., called the president “right to insist that we hold Iran accountable both today and for the long term.”

OUR EARLIER REPORT (2:50 p.m.): Calling it “defective at its core,” President Donald Trump announced Tuesday he will pull the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal. In an address to the nation, the president said America “will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail.” Trump plans to reinstate all sanctions on the Islamic regime and warned other countries not to help the Iranian government after restrictions are reimposed. That could create a problem for America’s European allies, which started doing business with Iranian companies after the 2015 accord went into effect. Under the deal, Iran agreed to delay its nuclear program for 10 years, but critics noted after that the regime would be free to do as it pleased. In his announcement, Trump called Iran a “regime of great terror” and noted its most dangerous action involved the pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. In recent weeks, European leaders had lobbied Trump to remain in the deal. The president acknowledged their effort by noting he’d made his decision after consulting with U.S. allies. Iranian leaders must now decide whether to work with other parties to the deal, including European nations, China, and Russia, to save the accord. The Trump administration plans to observe a grace period of at least three months to allow businesses and other governments to cut ties with Iran before sanctions go back into effect.