Former French president, Francois Hollande, on Tuesday slammed US President Donald Trump’s hardline stance on the Iran nuclear deal, which Paris helped to negotiate, as a “double fault”, warning that Trump’s “unpredictability” threatens global stability.
“Trump’s decision not to certify the accord and to demand that congress strengthen sanctions is, to my eyes, a double fault,” Hollande told a conference in Seoul, South Korea, World Bulletin reported.
He said the US president’s actions showed a “deep misunderstanding of the negotiation’s purpose”, which was to “stop Iran from obtaining weapons, and not to make it change its politics.”
Tehran says it has never pursued nuclear arms and only seeks to exploit nuclear technology for civilian purposes, which have been confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors.
Hollande also said Trump is “damaging the credibility of any future negotiations with North Korea” with Washington’s about-turns, a concern shared by European Union ministers.
“It has to be shown that agreements will be kept to in the long term,” he said.
Hollande said the world has not been “this polarized” for years.
“And the role of the United States serves to further complicate the situation,” he added.
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