WASHINGTON – A top Republican senator has said he believes President DonaldTrump is likely to pull the US out of the Iran nuclear deal in May, a stepthat would undo one of the major foreign policy achievements claimed byformer President Barack Obama.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker told CBS-TV newsprogramme “Face the Nation”, that such a move by Trump could be avoided ifthe president’s concerns, which deal largely with Iran’s actions outsidethe specifics of the nuclear deal, are addressed as part of a multilateralframework. Such an agreement seems unlikely, Corker said.

“The Iran deal will be another issue that’s coming-up in May, and right nowit doesn’t feel like it’s going to be extended. I think the presidentlikely will move away from it, unless my “our European counterparts reallycome together on a framework. And it doesn’t feel to me that they are,”Corker said, cautioning that circumstances could change as the May 12deadline for a decision on the Iran deal approaches.

“You think the president’s going to pull out of that Iran deal on May 12th,he was asked, to which Corker replied,”I do. I do.”

Trump” who last week fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, his topdiplomat” has long railed against the Iran nuclear deal, dating back to the2016 presidential campaign, when he made pledges to withdraw the U.S. fromit a major part of his foreign policy platform. The president has remainedpublicly skeptical of the deal since taking office but thus far stoppedshort of making good on his promise to remove pull out of it.

Iran has warned Washington of making the “painful mistake,” while theIslamic Republic remains prepared for various scenarios in case the deal isviolated. – APP