Western Nations Clash at UN Over Iran Nuclear Deal

Tillerson Demands World Accept US Changes to Pact

President Trump set the stage for today’s discussion at the UN General Assembly on Iran, once again angrily condemning the deal as the worst in American history, while demanding new international measures against Iran, and endorsing regime change.

Trump’s comments were echoed by Israel, of course, but he doesn’t appear to have a lot of other Western countries on board with hostility toward the P5+1 nuclear deal. French President Emmanuel Macron in particular was critical of Turmp’s position.

Macron warned that the ongoing difficulty with North Korea was exactly why getting more hostile toward Iran was a bad idea. He warned breaking off discussions with Iran and resorting to threats would likely lead to Iran getting a nuclear weapon, just as North Korea has.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson backed Trump’s position, however, warning that the world needs to accept broad US-mandated changes to the P5+1 nuclear deal, and would face the US withdrawing from the deal if they didn’t give in to all of America’s demands.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.