Trump to Announce Decision on JCPOA Tuesday Night Tehran Time

The President of the United States will announce the decision regarding the future of the JCPOA on Tuesday night according to Iranian time. Donald Trump tweeted that at 2 PM Eastern Time on Tuesday, May 8, he will declare whether he will extend the suspension of sanctions on Iran under the JCPOA or withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Tehran. The U.S. President, a staunch opponent of the nuclear deal, has called it 'the worst deal ever.' On January 12, he warned Washington's European allies that if the 'disastrous flaws' of the JCPOA are not addressed, he will withdraw from the agreement. This deadline was set for May 12, but it appears that Mr. Trump has decided to make his announcement four days earlier. Just hours before this announcement, he criticized former Secretary of State John Kerry in a tweet, who has reportedly been consulting to preserve the nuclear agreement with Iran. The U.S. President wrote: 'The United States does not need John Kerry's possibly illegal shadow diplomacy efforts on the very bad Iran deal. He is the one that created this mess.' European powers have made significant efforts in recent weeks to convince Mr. Trump to stay in the JCPOA, even sending British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to the U.S. for final consultations on the matter. However, it seems that the U.S. President has made his decision before hearing his views. Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron, during his visit to Washington, announced a four-point plan to satisfy the United States to remain in the JCPOA. His plan included: first, preventing any nuclear activity by Iran until 2025, which has been achieved due to the JCPOA; second, ensuring that Iran will not have nuclear activity in the long term; third, stopping Iran's ballistic missile activities in the region; and fourth, creating conditions for a political solution to contain Iran in the region, particularly in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon. However, as reported by the New York Times on Monday, it seems that the U.S. President will only announce the exit of his country from the JCPOA on Tuesday. The newspaper quoted an unnamed European diplomat as saying that the likelihood of the U.S. staying in the JCPOA alongside its European allies is 'very low.' This European diplomat, described as 'senior' and 'involved in negotiations to persuade the U.S. to stay in the JCPOA,' also stated that 'it is clear' Trump will not extend the suspension of sanctions on Iran within the framework of the JCPOA. The three European troika countries in the P5+1 negotiations with Iran had expressed readiness to impose sanctions against Iran's missile program and its role in destabilizing the region. Meanwhile, Iranian officials have recently expressed various statements regarding their potential response to the U.S. exit from the JCPOA. While Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, has indicated that Iran will exit the agreement if the U.S. withdraws, President Hassan Rouhani stated on Monday that 'if our goals from the JCPOA are achieved without the U.S., so much the better; otherwise, we will make our own decision.' Iran and six world powers, including the U.S., Russia, China, France, and Britain, along with Germany, reached a comprehensive agreement in July 2015 after two years of intense negotiations to resolve ambiguities regarding Tehran's nuclear program and simultaneously lift international sanctions against Iran. Since Donald Trump took office in January 2017, the U.S. position on the JCPOA has completely changed, and despite several extensions of the suspension of sanctions on Iran by Washington, the U.S. government has imposed new sanctions in the missile sector against Tehran. Mr. Trump claims that Iran has not adhered to the 'spirit of the JCPOA,' especially its missile program and its 'destructive' role in the region, which has disrupted peace and stability in the Middle East. Iran has rejected these claims and criticized the U.S. for not adhering to its commitments under the nuclear agreement and obstructing international banks and companies from trading with Tehran.