'US will be the one to lose' after nixing the Iran deal: Turkey, China rebuke Trump
China and Turkey have warned that President Trump's decision to quit the Iran deal could trigger further instability in the Middle East as they vow to keep the deal alive even without the US in it.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan rebuked Trump for not having "remained faithful to the agreement it had reached."
"You should respect an agreement you have signed," the Turkish President said.
After months of speculation Trump announced his final decision to quit of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which curbed Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions, on Tuesday.
According to Erdogan, Trump will be the one to lose from withdrawing from the accord.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry called the move "unfortunate", emphasizing that "Turkey has always defended the stance that issues regarding Iran's nuclear program should be resolved through diplomacy and negotiations." Despite the fact that Turkey was not in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Ankara promised to make sure to safeguard the accord to prevent any instability in the region that might develop into new conflicts.
"While there is no evidence that Iran is violating the agreement, the US taking this decision means to take the exact opposite position vis-a-vis its allies," the EU Affairs Minister Ömer Çelik said.
Ankara warned that warned that Trump's move will have far-reaching impact.
"Unfortunately, the US decision has an approach that will open doors to very bad developments," Çelik tweeted.
Unfortunately, US decision represents an approach that will open the door to very unpleasant developments.
— Ömer Çelik (@omerrcelik) 9 мая 2018 г.
While there isn’t any evidence that Iran violates the deal, US decision to withdraw from the deal is an opposite position vis-a-vis its allies.
— Ömer Çelik (@omerrcelik) 9 мая 2018 г.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang warned that re-imposing sanctions on Iran will create more tensions in the Middle East and will raise the risk of conflict.
"China regrets the decision made by the United States ... the JCPOA is a multilateral agreement ... it should be implemented in good faith by all parties."
Having already pumped billions into Iran's economy and hoping to have an even greater diplomatic power in the Middle East, China promised to "maintain normal economic and trade exchanges" with Iran.
Trump's decision that fits his "America First" agenda, also angered his European counterparts, who insisted that the deal was working and should neither be reviewed, nor abandoned. Leaders of Britain, Germany and France promised to stay committed to make sure the deal survives even without the US.
A "flagrant violation" of the international law, which proves that all of the grievances the US had about Iran's "absolutely legal nuclear activity"served as a "pretext for settling political scores" with Tehran, was the verdict from Russia's Foreign Ministry .
However, it wasn't only the international community that didn't digest the decision well. Even Trump's colleagues from the Republican party found themselves puzzled by his decision and claimed that they failed to see any advantage for US security. They warned Trump could push European allies further away.
Despite Trump re-imposing sanctions against Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani vowed to remain faithful to the original agreement and continue negotiations with the EU, Russia and China. Rouhani called Trump's decision to withdraw illegal and illegitimate, and said it violates international agreements.
