British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Monday will push President Trump and his top diplomat to stay in the Iran nuclear agreement, less than a week before Trump is set to decide the fate of U.S. participation in the deal.
Johnson appeared on “Fox & Friends” Monday morning to make the case for the deal on Trump’s favorite morning show. He was set to meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later Monday morning to talk about the agreement, and Vice President Mike Pence.
Johnson follows Trump’s recent meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, both of whom have said they would work to broaden the Iran deal instead of scrapping it.
Trump has said he wants to add new “pillars” to the deal that would rein in Iran’s destabilizing actions in the Middle East, and put limits on its ballistic missile program. But he said without these tougher new restrictions, he might leave the deal.
On Fox News, Johnson agreed that the deal needs to be improved, but said walking away from it would remove any constraints on Iran and could lead to an arms race in the Middle East.
“We’ve got to fix the flaws in the deal,” he said on Fox News, adding that one key improvement would be new language that ensures tough restrictions are in place after 2025.
He said getting out of the deal entirely could prompt Iran to push again for a nuclear weapon, and said if that happens, the U.S. and its allies would face a tough choice.
“What next?” he asked. “What if the Iranians do rush for a nuclear weapon? Are we seriously saying that we’ll bomb those facilities…?”
“Plan B does not seem to me to be particularly well-developed at this stage,” he added.
In a New York Times op-ed, Johnson pushed for a similar result.
“We share the same concerns about Iran,” he wrote. “I believe we are very close to a position that would address President Trump’s concerns and strengthen trans-Atlantic unity.”
Johnson agreed that the deal isn’t perfect, but said it serves as a starting point that helped put immediate limits on Iran’s nuclear program, and can still be improved.
“I am sure of one thing: every available alternative is worse,” he wrote. “The wisest course would be to improve the handcuffs rather than break them.”
