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Publish Date : 29 October 2017 - 09:31  ,  
News ID: 2633

Australian FM criticizes Trump approach over Iran deal

TEHRAN(Basirat): Australia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop criticized US President Donald Trump’s Iran strategy, saying Trump’s threat to scrap the Iran nuclear deal could imperil negotiations with North Korea.

There is a "powerful argument” that the US president’s threat to scrap the deal could imperil efforts to negotiate a peaceful outcome with North Korea, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

In a significant sharpening of Australia’s public rhetoric on the Obama-era Iran agreement, Bishop said she had asked US officials, including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, how they would counter the argument that North Korea could not trust the US if it walked away from previous international agreements.

The US president had vowed during his election campaign to "tear up” the deal, but this month kicked the issue to the US Congress, effectively demanding it either come up with a tougher approach, or he would follow through on his threat to scrap it.

Bishop also said she had discussed the matter with American officials last month after Iran mounted the argument to the United Nations General Assembly that the US would lose credibility including in its stand-off with North Korea.

"Iran was immediately on the front foot saying… ‘Why would North Korea sit down and negotiate with the United States as we, Iran, did if the United States feels that it’s able to walk away from an agreement that was embodied in a UN Security Council resolution?’” Bishop told Fairfax Media.

"The United States is aware of the argument that Iran was promoting, and the currency that it was gaining. It’s a powerful argument.”

She said that during a visit to Washington immediately after the UN meeting she had asked officials including Tillerson: "How do you counter Iran’s argument if you do pull out of [the deal]?”

Referring to Congress, she said, "Those on Capitol Hill get the logic.”

Asked whether Tillerson got the logic, Bishop replied: "He’s a very, very, very logical man.”

Tillerson was reportedly among the cabinet members who successfully pressured Trump to hand the deal to Congress rather than simply walk away from it.

The deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was signed under former president Barack Obama and included Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia. Iran had a range of economic sanctions lifted in return for curbing its nuclear program.

International inspectors and US intelligence agencies say Iran is sticking to the deal, but Trump has argued that Tehran was breaching the spirit of the deal.

Bishop has previously expressed Australia’s opposition to scrapping the deal but her remarks about North Korea significantly strengthen her position. The other five countries involved have also demanded that Trump stick with the nuclear agreement.

Source:Irandailynews

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