Rouhani, European leaders react to Trump's Iran deal decision

British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Emmanuel Macron

(Image credit: Emmanuel Dunand/Getty Images)

published 15 October 2017

"Iran's great nation witnessed that for the first time the U.S. stands against an international multilateral treaty, but other world powers and the European Union immediately stand against the U.S. [and not Iran]," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in response to President Trump's Friday announcement that he would not again certify Tehran's compliance with the Iran nuclear deal.

"Today, the U.S. is lonelier than ever in opposing the nuclear agreement and in its conspiracies against the Iranian nation," added Rouhani, a moderate re-elected this year on a reform platform. Russia likewise condemned Trump's decision as dangerous and unprovoked.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, European leaders broke with Trump on the Iran deal issue without directly condemning his decision. The agreement "was the culmination of 13 years of diplomacy and was a major step toward ensuring that Iran's nuclear [program] is not diverted for military purposes," said a joint statement from British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirming their commitment to the deal "and its full implementation by all sides."

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.

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