As President Trump prepares to announce the fate of the Iran nuclear deal, he had a strong message for former Secretary of State John Kerry.
Just days ahead of the May 12 deadline, and hours before his Tuesday afternoon announcement on whether the U.S. will continue in the Obama-era pact or reimpose sanctions on Iran, the president warned Kerry to “stay away” from negotiations with Iran.
John Kerry can’t get over the fact that he had his chance and blew it! Stay away from negotiations John, you are hurting your country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2018
Trump’s tweet came amid reports that Kerry was secretly colluding with Iran to salvage the deal he helped to craft. The president slammed the former secretary of state on Monday for engaging in what he called “possibly illegal shadow diplomacy.”
The United States does not need John Kerry’s possibly illegal Shadow Diplomacy on the very badly negotiated Iran Deal. He was the one that created this MESS in the first place!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2018
Kerry has reportedly met with Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif as well as German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, European Union official Federica Mogherini and French President Emmanuel Macron in a “below the radar” campaign to preserve the signature Obama foreign policy achievement, according to a Boston Globe report last week.
A spokesman for @JohnKerry sends over this statement in response to the tweet from @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/Ag9miZrkvq
— Jesse Rodriguez (@JesseRodriguez) May 7, 2018
In the 2015 deal the U.S. waives sanctions against Iran, which are reviewed every three or four months, as long as Iran remains in compliance with the pact limiting its nuclear weapons program.
Expectations are that Trump will not continue to waive the sanctions and will instead take a stronger stand against the rogue nation, especially in light of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s revealing of thousands of documents last week showing Iran’s efforts to build its nuclear program.
Kerry panned the prime minister’s presentation as nothing new and the Iranian regime has warned of “grave” consequences should the president’s Tuesday announcement be to withdraw from the pact.
I will be announcing my decision on the Iran Deal tomorrow from the White House at 2:00pm.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2018
“Mr. Trump…Rest assured that this loyalty in nuclear issue will [encourage] the great Iranian nation to continue on the path of the Islamic Revolution firmly behind the leadership of its supreme leader,” Iran’s parliamentary speaker Ali Larjani reportedly said, according to Fox News.
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, however, doe not see long-tern damage from a U.S. exit.
“It is possible that we will face some problems for two or three months, but we will pass through this,” Rouhani said in Tehran on Tuesday, Fox News reported.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders dismissed Kerry’s efforts to undermine the administration during Monday’s press briefing.
Sarah Sanders says John Kerry’s “shadow diplomacy” doesn’t affect future of Iran deal “at all” pic.twitter.com/lyt4ue4DDa
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) May 7, 2018
“I don’t think it impacts it at all,” Sanders said. “I don’t think that we would take advice from somebody who created what the president sees to be one of the worst deals ever made. I’m not sure why we would start listening to him now.”
Via BizPAC
