“Instex was never thought of as economically efficient,” said Pierre Vimont, the former executive secretary-general of the European External Action Service, the European Union’s foreign affairs and defense agency. It is the nuclear deal’s failure to have covered these other activities that Mr. Trump has said made it “the worst” in history. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suddenly postponed meetings with top German leaders on Tuesday to fly to Iraq to respond to what he said were increased but unspecified dangers to Americans there from Iran’s forces and allies. But some Europeans wondered why he could not have seen the German chancellor and foreign minister, Angela Merkel and Heiko Maas, before rushing to Baghdad for a few hours before traveling to London. Colin Kahl, writing in Foreign Policy, suggested that the Trump Administration is seeking military confrontation with Iran and even heading toward war.

Source: New York Times May 08, 2019 11:33 UTC