Trump turns down meeting with Bolton on Iran nuclear deal

US President Donald Trump has refused to meet with John Bolton, who was once considered for secretary of state and national security adviser during the presidential transition last winter.  

“I requested a meeting with him and I was turned down,” Bolton told POLITICO on Tuesday. He had openly stated that he shares Trump’s strong antipathy toward the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and the world powers including the US.

The former US ambassador to the UN did not provide further details in his talk to POLITICO, but he revealed in a separate article that he wanted to explain to Trump how the United States could come out of the Iran agreement.

In the op-ed published on Monday in the National Review, Bolton outlined a blueprint for the United States to exit the Iran deal. He said he wrote the article because the president declined to meet him and receive his suggestions regarding the issue.  

He wrote that although former chief White House strategist Steve Bannon had requested him to devise a strategy to get the United States out from the Iran agreement in late July, but he failed to send his plan to the president because Bannon was fired earlier this month.

“The idea was I would go see him and, you know, the timing of the certification decision and Reince Priebus’s firing were not far apart,” Bolton said, raising an eyebrow about why his plan wasn’t considered by the president.

Priebus was removed from the post of the White House chief of staff last month by Trump after a stormy six-month tenure. He was replaced with retired Marine Corps general John Kelly, who has limited the number of visitors to the Oval Office.

This month, Trump also fired Bannon, who helped Trump win the 2016 presidential election, from the White House.  

It’s interesting that the all recently fired Trump administration officials were those who had been strong critics of the Iran nuclear agreement, despite the fact that Trump himself has often spoken against the deal.

Earlier this month, Trump accused Tehran of not “living up to the spirit” of the nuclear agreement.

PressTV-'Trump to harm US interests if he kills Iran deal'

An analyst says honoring Iran’s nuclear deal is a matter of international law and if Trump reneges on the deal, it will only harm US interests.

"I don't think Iran is in compliance," Trump told reporters on August 10. "I don't think they're living up to the spirit of the agreement."

Trump’s comments came after the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran had been abiding by the terms of the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA.

And despite the IAEA’s multiple reports, the Trump administration has also approved a series of anti-Iran sanctions.

But the recent developments show that Trump – a billionaire businessman -- might be reconsidering his position on the international nuclear agreement and could finally decide to comply with it, because several American companies would suffer losses if the US pulls out from the agreement.

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