WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump will confirm on Tuesday whether hewill make good on a threat to re-impose US sanctions on Tehran and therebythrow the entire Iran nuclear deal into question.

Trump’s announcement that a decision was imminent cut short a last-ditchEuropean diplomatic drive to save the accord ahead of what had been a May12 deadline.

Trump had until Saturday to decide whether to renew a waiver on one packageof US sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector that had been lifted as part ofWashington’s commitment under the 2015 deal.

“I will be announcing my decision on the Iran Deal tomorrow from the WhiteHouse at 2:00 pm (1800 GMT),” the president said in a tweet.

The president may now also decide to announce the fate of the rest ofWashington’s nuclear-related sanctions, which are covered by differentwaivers, and effectively undermine the entire accord, reached betweenTehran and six world powers.

European leaders and diplomats — including Britain’s Foreign SecretaryBoris Johnson, who was in Washington on Monday — have been pleading withthe United States to retain the core of what Trump called the “flawed”accord.

– Mixed signals –

And even if, as now seems inevitable, Trump pulls Washington out of theagreement, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China may decide to stay inand to urge Tehran to maintain its own commitments.

But if Trump’s decision raises the prospect of renewed US sanctions onEuropean firms and banks doing business with Iran, the accord itself willbe in peril — amid mixed signals from Tehran.

Some Iranian leaders have signalled they might seek to rapidly restore theenrichment capabilities they surrendered under the deal, and Europeancapitals fear Tehran may resume the hunt for a bomb.

Tehran has long insisted it has no ambition to build nuclear weapons, butthe signatories to the deal never believed them, and supporters of theaccord have warned of a Middle East arms race if it fails.

And they are skeptical that Trump’s administration has a back-up plan torestrain Iranian ambitions once he has made good on his campaign promise totear up a deal endorsed by his predecessor Barack Obama.

Britain’s Johnson, who was in Washington to lobby Secretary of State MikePompeo and Vice President Mike Pence, told Fox News: “Plan B does not seemto be, to me, particularly well-developed at this stage.”

Given the multinational nature of the deal, nothing the so-called EU three– Britain, France and Germany — can do would allow them to rewrite it,but they have promised to work on a powerful supplemental agreement.

US diplomats have been working furiously with their partners in the threecountries to make this a reality, with measures to limit Iran’s ballisticmissile program and regional subversion.

But so far, all signs point to Trump making good on his threat.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned the accord’s collapse could spark”an escalation” in the region and stressed that Washington’s Europeanallies think the deal “makes the world a safer place.”

His French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, on a visit to Berlin, said theagreement is “the right way to stop Iran from getting access to nuclearweapons” and “will save us from nuclear proliferation.”

– Sunset clauses –

Under the landmark nuclear pact, Iran agreed to scale back nuclearenrichment and put its program under international supervision in returnfor international sanctions relief.

Trump has consistently complained about the agreement, reached under Obama,citing as its shortcomings certain clauses such as the “sunset” provisionslifting some nuclear restrictions on Tehran from 2025.

In an attempt to salvage the deal, French President Emmanuel Macron haspushed to extend its scope to address this issue, as well as Iran’s missilecapabilities and its role in the region.

Iran’s support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Lebanese armedgroup Hezbollah in Syria’s civil war and Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen haveadded to tension between Tehran and Western powers.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday issued a strong warning to theUnited States not to quit the pact.

“If the United States leaves the nuclear agreement, you will soon see thatthey will regret it like never before in history,” Rouhani said.

He also vehemently reiterated his country’s opposition to curtailing itsnon-nuclear missile capabilities, insisting Tehran “will build as manymissiles and weapons as needed.” – APP/AFP