ADWhen asked about the tariff warning, a senior U.S. official said, “We’ve been very clear that the JCPOA was a horrible deal,” referring to the Iran nuclear deal. “The consensus among the Europeans about the need to hold Tehran accountable took form weeks ago and was driven by Iran’s escalatory behavior and violations of the nuclear deal,” the official said. “We didn’t want to look weak, so we agreed to keep the existence of the threat a secret,” a European official said. ADMajor difficulties in the transatlantic relationship began after Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran that had been lifted in exchange for limitations on its nuclear program. Some supporters of the Iran nuclear deal believe the Europeans made a mistake in triggering the mechanism Tuesday even if their intention was to preserve the accord.

Source: Washington Post January 15, 2020 18:28 UTC