As expected, US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday evening, 8 May, that the USA was leaving the nuclear deal with Iran, signing a memorandum immediately to re-impose the sanctions on Iran that had, until now, been suspended (EUROPE will return to this).
In his speech, Trump said there was decisive evidence that Iran was continuing its nuclear weapons programme. He stated that sanctions could also be imposed on any country that helps Iran in its quest for nuclear weapons.
Trump furthermore proposed negotiating a new agreement for a "real, comprehensive and lasting" solution "to eliminate the threat of Iran's ballistic missile programme; to stop its terrorist activities worldwide; and to block its menacing activity across the Middle East".
Right until the last minute, the Europeans had hoped that the US would stay in the deal. Earlier in the day, the political directors of France, Germany and the UK had met Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araghchi in Brussels, under the guidance of the secretary general of the European External Action Service, Helga Schmid. It was the opportunity to reiterate the Europeans' support for a full and effective implementation of the deal by all parties, the EEAS stated in a press release.
Iran announced on 3 May that it would withdraw from the deal if the USA did so. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)