Final pitches coming as Trump mulls exiting Iran deal

Bloomberg

UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson is in Washington this week to make a last-ditch argument to persuade President Donald Trump to remain in the Iran nuclear deal, arguing the agreement is flawed but can be improved.
“We need to find a way of fixing that, and the president has been right to call attention to it, but you can’t just do that without throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” Johnson said on Fox News.
With the time at hand for Trump to decide whether the US remains in the Iran nuclear deal, world leaders are making their final pitches.
Johnson is scheduled to meet this week with Vice President Mike Pence, National Security Adviser John Bolton and other administration and congressional officials to try to salvage the pact aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear programme in return for the easing of international sanctions. Johnson’s arrival follows recent visits by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the 2015 accord is fatally flawed and must be “fully fixed or nixed” to stop Iranian aggression sooner than later. His comments came as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that the US would face “historic” regret if it pulled out.
Trump faces a May 12 deadline to decide whether to continue waiving key sanctions and has declined to reveal what he’ll do. While the president has repeatedly called the accord a bad deal for the US, and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said he expects it to be torn up, Trump also said last week that his antipathy “doesn’t mean I wouldn’t negotiate a new agreement.”
Members of Trump’s own party are split. Representative Mac Thornberry said Sunday he “would counsel against” Trump quitting the accord. Still, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he’s “very comfortable” that the president is standing up to Iran.
Netanyahu said the agreement fails to address potential weaponisation of Iran’s nuclear knowledge, imposing only temporary limits on uranium enrichment. “I say that a deal that enables Iran to keep and hide all its nuclear weapons know-how is a terrible deal,” said Netanyahu, who’s warned for decades about Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The agreement must be “either fully fixed or fully nixed” because otherwise, “you will end up with Iran with a nuclear arsenal in a very short time,” he said.
Macron reiterated that he wants to maintain the Iran accord, while “complementing” it with talks on Tehran’s ballistic missile program and regional activities, according to an interview he gave to Le Journal du Dimanche.
Iran, however, has ruled out new talks, calling the current agreement “non-negotiable.”
Rouhani, addressing crowds at a rally in the northeastern city of Sabzevar, said the US has “always sought to sow intrigue against Iran” and would be making a huge mistake by exiting the agreement.
“If it wants to leave the nuclear deal, it will quickly see that this decision will be a regret of historic proportions,” Rouhani said.
US negotiators have been meeting with allies France, the UK and Germany trying to reach a consensus on side agreements responding to US concerns about the deal rather than scuttling it.