Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. said Monday that President Trump now has a real chance to reshape the Iran nuclear deal into a tougher, more effective agreement, and said that chance only surfaced because Trump is willing to abandon it altogether.
Dermer said on MSNBC that he recently spoke to a foreign diplomat who said his country is willing to work with the U.S. to reshape the deal, and replied that Trump’s threat is what got people talking about renegotiating it.
“I said to him, ‘that’s great, but the only reason why you’re having this conversation is that President Trump has said that he’s prepared to walk away from the deal,'” Dermer said.
“President Trump on Friday established a credible threat for the United States to walk away from the deal, and that has given him enormous leverage,” he said.
Dermer said Trump “has it exactly right” when it comes to Iran. Israel opposed former President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement, and warned it would cement in place the development of nuclear weapons by Iran.
Trump on Friday announced he would seek tougher sanctions against Iran, and said the U.S. is prepared to walk away from it altogether if other world powers can’t agree.
“What President Trump has done on Friday, and why this was so important, is he shifted back U.S. policy of preventing Iran from ever acquiring or developing nuclear weapons. That’s the right policy, that’s why it’s supported by Israel.”
