U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron pledged on Tuesday to work for stronger measures to contain Iran, but Trump refrained from committing to staying in the 2015 nuclear deal and threatened Iran with retaliation if it restarts its nuclear program.
"If Iran threatens us in any way, they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid," Trump warned.
At a joint news conference with Macron in Washington, Trump kept up his blistering rhetoric against the nuclear accord between Iran and world powers, which he says does not address Iran's rising influence in the Middle East or its ballistic missile program.
He called the accord insane, terrible and ridiculous.
"This is a deal with decayed foundations," Trump said. "It's a bad deal. It's falling down."
With a May 12 deadline looming for Trump to decide on restoring U.S. economic sanctions on Iran, Macron said he had spoken to Trump about a "new deal" in which the United States and Europe would tackle the outstanding concerns about Iran beyond its nuclear program.
Macron told reporters that he and Trump would look at the Iran deal "in a wider regional context," taking into account the situation in Syria.
"We have a common objective, we want to make sure there's no escalation and no nuclear proliferation in the region. We now need to find the right path forward," Macron said.
Macron is using his three-day state visit to the United States as a high-stakes bid to salvage the Iran nuclear deal, which some in the West see as the best hope of preventing Iran from getting a nuclear bomb and heading off a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
Under Macron's proposal, the United States and Europe would agree to block any Iranian nuclear activity until 2025 and beyond, address Iran's ballistic missile program, and generate conditions for a political solution to contain Iran in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.
It was unclear whether Macron made substantial progress in his efforts to prevent Trump from pulling out of the nuclear deal.
Trump stressed there would be repercussions if Iran restarts its nuclear program.
On the idea of a broader deal, Trump said, "We will have a great shot at doing a much bigger, 'maybe deal, maybe not' deal."
The French believe progress has been made on a broader deal.
"What was important and new this morning was that President Trump was okay with putting on the table, with France, the idea of a new agreement that should be proposed to, and worked on with, the Iranians," a French official said.
It was unclear what that would mean for the fate of the 2015 accord and whether the other countries that signed it, such as China and Russia, would agree to new measures against Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned Monday that the U.S. pulling out would undermine its upcoming nuclear talks with North Korea by proving that the U.S. reneges on its promises.
He said that if Trump withdraws, Iran would "most likely" abandon the deal as well and would no longer be bound by its international obligations. That would free Iran to resume enrichment activity beyond the limits imposed by the 2015 accord.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that Iran's atomic agency is ready with "expected and unexpected" responses if the U.S. pulls out of the nuclear deal.
"Our atomic energy organization is fully prepared ... for actions that they expect and actions they do not expect," Rouhani said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to also make a case for the accord during a lower-key visit to the White House on Friday.
A source familiar with the internal debate at the White House said one option under discussion is giving Europe more time to toughen the terms of the current Iran deal.
Trump and Macron have developed a strong relationship at a time when many European leaders have kept a certain distance from Trump.
"On both sides of the ocean some two years ago, very few would have bet on us being here together today," Macron told Trump in a toast at a glittering state dinner, Trump's first since he took office in January 2017.
"I got to know you. You got to know me. We both know that none of us easily changes his mind," Macron said.
Trump, 71, and Macron, 40, were remarkably chummy through the day, repeatedly shaking and grabbing each other's hands, exchanging kisses on the cheek and slapping each other's backs.
At one point in the Oval Office, Trump brushed what he said was dandruff from Macron's jacket, saying: "We have to make him perfect – he is perfect."
Macron hopes to leverage their friendship into progress on not only Iran but also exempting Europe from steel tariffs and protecting the 2016 Paris climate accord.
Their talks also covered the U.S. presence in Syria, weeks after the United States, France and Britain launched airstrikes in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack blamed on Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Trump wants to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria, believing Islamic State is largely defeated, but Macron and other allies argue they should stay to ensure the militants do not resurface and to block Iran from strengthening its foothold.
Trump made it clear U.S. troops would not be withdrawn imminently.
"We want to come home. We'll be coming home. But we want to leave a strong and lasting footprint," Trump said.
"Emmanuel and myself have discussed the fact that we don't want to give Iran open season to the Mediterranean, especially since we really control it," Trump said.
His comment echoed a concern shared by others, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, that withdrawing from Syria now, while its political crisis is unresolved, would cede ground to Iran and enable it to realize its ambition to establish an overland pathway to the Mediterranean through Iraq and Syria. Trump stuck to his view that Arab nations should do more to prevent Iran from "profiting off" the U.S. success against Islamic State.
Lieberman heads to Washington
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned Tuesday that Israel would strike back at Russian-made S-300 air defense systems if they are used against Israel in Syria.
"What's important to us is that the defensive weapons the Russians are giving Syria won't be used against us," Lieberman said. "If they're used against us, we'll act against them."
Lieberman was scheduled to depart on Wednesday for an official visit to Washington, where he is slated to meet with Defense Secretary James Mattis, National Security Adviser John Bolton and members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Israel has asked Russia not to deliver the advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, a Russian diplomat said on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that Russia had not yet decided whether it will deliver the missile systems to Syria, but would not make it a secret if the matter is decided, the TASS news agency reported.
Russia's daily Kommersant newspaper reported that experts believe Israel would react negatively to any move to deliver the missiles and might bomb the area where they would be deployed.
Lieberman told the Ynet news website on Tuesday that while Israel does not interfere in Syria's internal affairs, "we won't allow Iran to flood [the country] with advanced weapons systems that would be aimed against Israel."
He insisted that Iran and not Russia is the problem, because Russian defense systems are already in Syria and have not been used against Israel.
