Japan says will closely watch impact of US withdrawal from Iran deal

Foreign Minister Taro Kono said on Wednesday Japan would closely monitor the impact of a decision by US President Donald Trump to withdraw from an international nuclear deal with Iran.

Kono said Japan would continue close talks with related nations towards maintaining a deal, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday pulled the United States out of an international nuclear deal with Iran in a step that will raise the risk of conflict in the Middle East, upset America's European allies and bring uncertainty to global oil supplies.

Trump, speaking in a televised address from the White House, said he would reimpose economic sanctions on Iran. "This was a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made," Trump said. "It didn't bring calm. It didn't bring peace. And it never will." The 2015 deal, worked out by the United States, five other international powers and Iran, eased sanctions on Iran in exchange for the country limiting its nuclear programme. The pact is seen by many in the West as a way to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb.

But Trump complains that the agreement, the signature foreign policy achievement of his predecessor Barack Obama, does not address Iran's ballistic missile programme, its nuclear activities beyond 2025 nor its role in conflicts in Yemen and Syria. He also said the agreement did not prevent Iran from cheating and continuing to pursue nuclear weapons. "It is clear to me that we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement," he said. "The Iran deal is defective at its core."

Former US President Barack Obama, under whose administration the Iran nuclear agreement was reached in 2015, said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the deal was "misguided.""I believe that the decision to put the JCPOA at risk without any Iranian violation of the deal is a serious mistake," Obama said in a statement.

Trump said he was willing to negotiate a new deal with Iran, but Tehran already has ruled that out and threatened unspecified retaliation if Washington pulled out.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Iran will remain in the nuclear deal without Washington. Iranian state television said Trump's decision to withdraw was "illegal, illegitimate and undermines international agreements." Abandoning the Iran pact is part of Trump's high-stakes "America First" policy, which has seen the United States announce its withdrawal last year from the Paris climate accord and come close to a trade war with China.

Trump has attempted to erase major parts of Democrat Obama's legacy and last year withdrew from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal the Paris climate accord. Renewing sanctions would make it much harder for Iran to sell its oil abroad or use the international banking system.

Oil prices recouped some losses after Trump's announcement, in a volatile session in which prices slumped as much as 4% earlier in the day. Brent crude futures LCOc1 settled 1.7 percent lower at $74.85 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 ended the session 2.4% lower at $69.06 per barrel. Wall Street remained in negative territory while energy stocks cut earlier losses after Trump spoke. Trump's decision is a snub to European allies such as France, Britain and Germany who also are part of the Iran deal and tried hard to convince the US president to preserve it. The Europeans must now scramble to decide their own course of action with Tehran. China and Russia also are signatories to the Iran deal.