EU/IRAN/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “European leaders on Wednesday [5-9-18] began drawing up plans to preserve the Iran nuclear accord, in defiance of President Donald Trump’s Tuesday [5-8-18] decision to abandon what he called the ‘rotten’ agreement. The possible action includes legislation that would block Washington from punishing European companies that continue to do business with Iran. It reflects Europe’s deep frustration with Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 deal despite the pleas of its top leaders. Trump’s action has inflamed a transatlantic relationship already strained by his threat to impose tariffs on European products, along with his 2017 withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. The leaders of Britain, France and Germany spent months trying to convince Trump to sustain the Iran deal, which they helped to negotiate. In a Tuesday statement, former Secretary of State John Kerry, who spearheaded the nuclear talks, warned that it ‘isolates [the U.S.] from our European allies.’ Trump’s move not only removes the U.S. from the nuclear pact but raises the specter of American sanctions on European companies that have embarked on business ventures in Iran.”
-David Herszenhorn, “Europe punches back after Trump’s Iran decision,” Politico, May 9, 2018 5:51 pm