Donald Trump expected to announce withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal
US officials have begun actively planning for the likelihood that the always unpredictable Donald Trump will reveal America's intention to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal, according to the Associated Press, something that would leave many a question over what could happen next or how the Middle Eastern nation would respond.
But, with just over a month until the president's deadline, national security officials have explored various "day after" scenarios, including how to sell a pullout as the optimal strategy, how aggressively to reimpose US sanctions on Iran, lifted under the agreement, and how to manage the fallout from Iranian and European officials in the wake of such a drastic step.
While the planning was said to be at an early stage, it has taken on greater urgency due to the clock ticking down to mid-May, the date Trump set himself to walk away unless his concerns had been addressed.
Mike Pompeo, the CIA director nominated for the vacant secretary of state position, was briefed last week on the Iran deal by top State Department aides, including Brian Hook, the policy planning chief, and Andrew Peek, the deputy assistant secretary for Iran, according to US officials.
Both Pompeo and John Bolton, the former of whom takes over as Trump's national security adviser next week, have been highly critical of the Obama administration's landmark nuclear deal, with their appointments seemingly signalling that one of the former President's signature foreign policy achievements may soon be a thing of the past.
However, Trump's alleged desire to withdraw US personnel and resources from Syria, which many Iran-hawks believe would in effect cede the country to Tehran, was seen as a hurdle to his withdrawal from the agreement with Tehran.
"I want to get out. I want to bring our troops back," Trump said on Tuesday.
"Sometimes it's time to come back home."
Iran has said that America's withdrawal from the nuclear agreement and reimposed sanctions would destroy it, threatening a range of responses, including immediately restarting those nuclear activities which were currently barred under the terms of thedeal.