Britain’s ambassador to the United States has said senior British officials are "making progress" in talks with US President Donald Trump on the Iran nuclear deal as weighs whether Washington should withdraw from the international accord.
“My government has said that as long as Iran is in compliance with the deal and wants to stick with it that will be our position as well, so we're looking at options for maintaining the deal should - which we hope they won't - should the US administration choose to withdraw," Sir Kim Darroch said in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
Darroch noted that the agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is a "good deal" but "not a perfect deal."
"We have ideas we think that we can find some language, produce some action that meets the president's concerns," he said of the ongoing negotiations with the Trump administration.
The ambassador said that Trump “doesn't like the fact that ballistic missiles aren't covered,” and he thinks “the inspections regime should be tougher.”
America’s European allies are in contact with the Trump administration to address those issues, lobbying the US to remain in the nuclear pact signed between Tehran and the US, the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany in 2015.
Darroch said that while Trump’s views on the deal have been known for years, a final decision has "not yet been taken."
Trump has repeatedly criticized the Iran deal, which was signed under his predecessor Barack Obama as “the worst deal ever negotiated.”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the US will regret a possible withdrawal from the nuclear deal, noting that Iran has a range of options to counter any fallout from the decision.
"If the United States opts to pull out of the JCPOA, you will soon see the historic remorse which the move will bring about for" Washington, Rouhani said on Sunday.
Trump has till May 12 to decide whether to continue waiving sanctions against Iran which were lifted as part of the JCPOA in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activities.
However, the president appears to be keeping his options open.
"I'm not telling you what I'm doing, but a lot of people think they know," Trump said last week. "And on or before the 12th, we'll make a decision."
Darroch underscored that, "We have a few days left to see if we can find a way through."
Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is in Washington to try to convince Trump to stay in the Iran deal. In an article in The New York Times published on Sunday, Johnson warned that "it would be a mistake to walk away.”
Russia and China, as the other signatories to the JCPOA, have warned against efforts to scrap the landmark accord and pledged to continue to honor their commitments under the deal.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has been monitoring Iran’s compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA and has consistently verified the Islamic Republic’s compliance.
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