Trump Would Praise Iran Nuclear Deal if He Negotiated It - Ex-British Diplomat

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump, who is deciding whether or not to pull out of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, would have backed the deal enthusiastically if he had made it himself, retired United Kingdom diplomat Jonathan Clarke told Sputnik.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an internationally-televised address on Monday said that Tel Aviv has 100,000 files proving that Iran has continued to maintain a secret nuclear program despite signing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The White House on Tuesday said it backed Netanyahu’s assertions while Trump said that in the coming weeks he would make a decision on whether to withdraw from the Iran deal.

"It’s a pity Trump didn’t make this deal," Clarke said on Tuesday. "If he had he would be praising it to the rooftops."

Ex-CIA Officer Estimates Impact of Netanyahu’s Intel on Trump Iran Decision
Clarke also said that, in fact, Netanyahu had inadvertently made the case for preserving the nuclear deal with Iran during his international telecast by presenting out of date intelligence that was 15 years old.

"Bibi [Netanyahu] makes the case for the JCPOA," he said. "Iran went from a possible nuclear power in 2003 to a non-nuclear power in 2015."

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden reacted to Netanyahu’s Monday televised broadcast and claims on Iran’s nuclear program by describing them as "old news."

The Iran Deal (JCPOA) was reached in Vienna in 2015 after years of diplomatic efforts between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — Russia, the United States, China, France and the United Kingdom — plus Germany and the European Union.

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