5/1/2018

EU/IRAN/ISRAEL/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration on Tuesday [5-1-18] embraced Israel’s claims that Iran entered a nuclear deal with the world’s major powers under false pretenses, a stark divergence from its European allies, who said the disclosures broke little new ground and reinforced, rather than weakened, the case for the 2015 deal. The administration echoed the claims made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday [4-30-18] in a dramatic PowerPoint presentation, suggesting he had coordinated it with the White House to set the stage for President Trump’s decision about whether to rip up the agreement negotiated by his predecessor, Barack Obama. Mr. Trump has threatened to scrap the deal as soon as May 12, if Britain, France and Germany do not agree to wholesale changes. The White House cited Mr. Netanyahu’s theatrical presentation — based on documents taken from an Iranian warehouse in a nighttime raid in January — as further proof of the agreement’s flaws.”

-Mark Landler, David M. Halbfinger and David E. Sanger, “Israel’s Claims on Iran Divide Europe and U.S. on Merits of Nuclear Deal,” The New York Times online, May 1, 2018