Note: The President of the United States Speaks in Transition from the JCPOA

Donald Trump's statements during his joint press conference with Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, at the White House can be seen as a sign that the fate of the nuclear agreement is on a knife's edge; a situation that Hassan Rouhani implicitly acknowledged in his angry reaction the following day in Tabriz. The summary of the U.S. President's remarks about the nuclear agreement was calling it a 'disaster' and indicating America's decision to move away from its commitments under the agreement before the deadline for announcing the extension of sanctions. Earlier this year, the Trump administration set four conditions for European powers to remain in the nuclear agreement, and despite formal and informal negotiations among representatives of the U.S. and Europe in Munich, Rome, and London, there has been no sign of closer expectations from the negotiating parties. Several military commanders and senior political and executive officials of the Islamic Republic had previously threatened that if the U.S. withdrew from the nuclear agreement, Iran would abandon it and resume its nuclear activities as before, and perhaps even more vigorously. The Islamic Republic hoped that the French President, in line with Europe's supportive policy for maintaining the nuclear agreement, could persuade the White House to change its stance on the JCPOA; however, the U.S. President did not change his tone against the nuclear agreement when facing the media on Tuesday, thus leaving little hope that similar negotiations by Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, could yield different results than Macron's discussions. The strategic policy goal of the Trump administration regarding the Islamic Republic is to limit the financial capabilities of the Tehran government and dry up the resources that the U.S. considers contrary to regional security. Trump's reference on Tuesday night to 'more problems for the Islamic Republic if it resumes nuclear activities' undoubtedly considered the economic and financial situation resulting from the sharp decline in the value of the rial, Iran's currency, and can be seen as a new threat to exert more financial pressure against Tehran. Trump has remained faithful to his electoral promises and withdrawing the U.S. from the provisions of the nuclear agreement, which Hassan Rouhani referred to as a 'seven-party agreement' in his statements on Wednesday in Tabriz, is among the promises he has repeatedly emphasized. With Mike Pompeo in the position of U.S. Secretary of State and John Bolton as the senior national security advisor at the White House, the chances of Washington remaining in the nuclear agreement after the deadline of May 22 seem slim, and at best, as a concession to European partners, the U.S. government may suspend the imposition of new sanctions against Iran for up to six months if it announces the suspension of its commitments under the nuclear agreement; a grace period that European governments and institutions dealing with Iran could use to adapt to the new situation.