By Edward Carney

It was widely reported on Thursday that Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif had once again reiterated the Islamic Republic’s refusal to enter into new negotiations over the 2015 nuclear program, which US President Donald Trump has long promised to either improve or cancel. Zarif’s latest remarks came less than two weeks before the deadline for the renewal of American sanctions waivers put into place by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Trump has said that if Congress and the European signatories to the deal do not “fix the terrible flaws” in the agreement by May 12, he will allow those waivers to lapse.

Iran Focus

London, 3 May – President Donald Trump has not hidden his disproval of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that was negotiated under the Obama administration. He said during the presidential campaign that he would be scrapping the deal if he became president.

However, since taking office, he has been put under pressure from allies in Europe to continue certifying Iran’s compliance.

The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act obliges the US President to declare that Iran is complying to the terms of the deal and to confirm that the continuation of the suspension of economic sanctions is essential to ensuring the national security of the United States.

Iran Focus

London, 3 May – Air France is cutting a service from Paris to Tehran, operated by its subsidiary Joon, citing poor economic performance over the past two years.

This decision comes as the international community is increasingly uncertain about the future of the 2015 Iranian Nuclear Deal, which Donald Trump is threatening to pull out of on May 12.

A representative from Air France said that the decision was not linked to the political climate, but it does seem like suspicious timing.

Iran Focus

London, 2 May – In less than two weeks, President Trump will announce whether he is going to re-certify the 2015 Iran nuclear deal or not. It is uncertain whether he will once again waiver the sanctions but there has been a lot of speculation.

Trump announced that he wanted to ensure that the deal is strengthened and the loopholes that Iran is taking advantage of are removed. He wants the sunset provisions to be cancelled and he told the other signatories of the deal that Iran’s belligerence across the Middle East and its ballistic missile program must be addressed.

Iran Focus

London, 2 May – As North Korea and South Korea appear to be heading towards peace, it is clear that the political landscape is changing for the better. While most of the world is celebrating this historic breakthrough, Iran would do well to learn from the Korean peace talks, according to political scientist Dr. Majid Rafizadeh.

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh writes in his latest column for Arab News that Iran should learn four key lessons from these talks, if the republic wants peace as much as it says it does. Let’s look at those lessons in detail.

Iran Focus

London, 2 May – The Supreme Leader of Iran has refused point blank to negotiate Iran’s malign role in the Middle East or its ballistic missile programme, something that Donald Trump wanted to fix under the nuclear deal.

Ali Khamenei instead accused the US Treasury Department of waging an economic war against Iran for the sanctions that have been imposed by the US over the past year, which relate to Iran’s human rights abuses and sponsorship of terrorism among other things.