Trump, Merkel Make No Apparent Movement on Iran

Facing imminent deadlines, US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel largely papered over their differences on the 2015 Iran nuclear accord on Friday.
Still, Merkel's brief visit, coupled with French President Emmanuel Macron's more lavish stopover earlier in the week, made clear that the US president's divisions with European allies remain substantial, AP reported.
Trump and Merkel's three-hour visit at the White House contained little of the backslapping geniality that defined Macron's three-day trip, including a lavish state dinner. While Trump and Macron complimented and embraced each other, the German chancellor kept her public statements brief and handshakes formal.
Trump is widely expected to withdraw the US from the international Iran agreement next month, despite pleas from Macron earlier in the week and Merkel on Friday. Yet Merkel used her public comments after her meeting with Trump to try to gloss over that disagreement, calling the Obama-era accord a "first step" toward curtailing and containing what she claimed were Iran's regional ambitions and suggesting openness to a side agreement.
"We also think that this is not sufficient in order to see to it that Iran's ambitions are curbed and contained," she added.