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Trump pushing Europe to fix Iran deal he may end anyway

By JOSH LEDERMAN and MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press
Published: March 21, 2018, 10:44pm

WASHINGTON — Trump administration negotiators have a tough sales job as they pressure European allies to accept new restrictions to “fix” the Iran nuclear deal: Even if the Europeans agree, President Donald Trump may blow up the deal anyway.

Given a mid-May deadline by Trump, U.S. negotiators are working with Britain, France and Germany on a follow-on pact that would address Trump’s three major complaints. First, Trump wants to penalize Iran for ballistic missiles, which weren’t part of the original deal. He also wants to expand access for international nuclear inspectors and prolong the limits on Iran’s nuclear activity, currently scheduled to expire in several years.

But beyond those broad strokes, Trump has refused to give the Europeans or even his own negotiators a clear litmus test for what will be good enough to keep him in the landmark 2015 accord. Brian Hook, the State Department policy chief who’s running the negotiations, said if there’s no agreement by May, Trump will certainly withdraw. If there is an agreement, Trump’s advisers will present it to him.

“Then he will make a decision on whether he wants to remain in the deal,” Hook said Wednesday.

The unusual ultimatum puts America’s closest allies in Europe in the uncomfortable position of trying to predict what is likely to satisfy Trump, even as they resent his demand to tinker with the deal in the first place. The European nations only begrudgingly agreed after it became clear that placating the U.S. president was the only way to salvage the deal former President Barack Obama struck with Iran and world powers.

“This is really where the leverage falls through,” said Heather Conley, the Europe director at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The Europeans may go out on a limb and still have the president walk away. The Europeans have tried, but they don’t know ultimately where he’s going to come out on this.”

It’s far from clear that the U.S. and the Europeans can reach agreement anyway. In talks in European capitals, Hook’s team and the Europeans have been haggling over complex sticking points such as what range of ballistic missiles should be penalized — and how.

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