International reactions following U.S. withdrawal from nuclear deal

On Tuesday, Trump administration officials called key members of the U.S. Congress and told them he had decided to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement , a 2015 international agreemen t designed to deny Tehran the ability to build nuclear weapons .

Minutes after Trump announced the United States was withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ( JCPoA ), British Prime Minister Theresa May , German Chancellor Angela Merkel , and French President Emmanuel Macron released a joint statement on the matter.

"It is with regret and concern that we, the Leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom take note of President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States of America from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Together, we emphasise our continuing commitment to the JCPoA," the statement read.

On Twitter , the European Commission through the European External Action Service ( EEAS ) wrote a post regretting the decision as well.

However, the White House said on Wednesday President Donald Trump was preparing to impose new sanctions on Iran to ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons.

“We are 100% committed to making sure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told a news briefing.

“We’re going to continue to put maximum pressure , enormous sanctions on them. All of the sanctions that were in place before the deal are back in place and we are preparing to add additional sanctions that may come as early as next week,” Sanders said.

For its part, Iran has drawn up a plan to cope with America’s withdrawal from the deal, Iran’s government spokesman said on Wednesday, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency .

“The Management and Planning Organization of Iran have drawn up a plan that is proportional to the conditions of America’s exit from the nuclear deal,” government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said.

He did not give any details on the specifics of the plan.

The Iranian government has assigned budgets to deal with various scenarios related to the nuclear deal, he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal will lead to a loss of trust in the United States from the international community , Nobakht said.

“Today no country can coordinate their plan based on the reliability that they will reach an agreement with America,” Nobakht concluded.

sg