Daily Times

DUBAI/NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump said he agreed with a comment by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that a “Trump deal” should replace the Iran nuclear deal.

“Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, @BorisJohnson, stated, ‘We should replace the Iran deal with the Trump deal,’” Trump said in a posting on Twitter late on Tuesday. “I agree!”

Johnson, who has praised Trump as a great dealmaker, called on Tuesday for the president to replace the Iranian nuclear deal with his own new pact to ensure the Islamic Republic does not get an atomic weapon.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed on Tuesday a proposal for a new “Trump deal” aimed at resolving a nuclear row, saying it was a “strange” offer and criticising Trump for always breaking promises.

In a televised speech, the president told Washington to return to the 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers, adding that Iran could reverse its moves to scale back its commitments under the pact.

He criticised European parties to the deal that have triggered a nuclear agreement dispute mechanism, saying they had failed to fulfill their commitments. Tehran has repeatedly refused to negotiate a new deal while US sanctions are in place.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday rejected any direct nuclear negotiations with the United States and said he wasn’t sure how long any pact by US President Donald Trump would last.

“We had a US deal and the US broke it. If we have a Trump deal, how long will it last, another 10 months…?” he said at a security conference in New Delhi.