European officials told The New York Times on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump appeared inclined to scrap the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran that were suspended when the deal was reached.
The report came after Trump promised to announce his decision regarding the 2015 deal on Tuesday afternoon.
The officials admitted they had failed to convince the Trump administration that dismantling the accord would be a huge diplomatic error.
Trump has imposed a May 12 deadline to reimpose sanctions on Iran unless the flaws he identified in the existing agreement are fixed.
In recent weeks, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have visited Trump and urged him to keep the deal in place and negotiate new arrangements that would be built on top of the 2015 agreement.
Britain, France and Germany remain committed to the accord but, in an effort to keep Washington in it, want to open talks on Iran’s ballistic missile program, its nuclear activities beyond 2025 - when key provisions of the deal expire - and its role in Middle East crises such as Syria and Yemen.
Macron warned on Sunday that war could ensue if Trump withdraws from the nuclear deal with Iran, but also added, “I don’t think that Donald Trump wants war.”
During their visits with Trump, Macron and Merkel argued that if the United States withdraws, Iran could accurately claim that Washington was the first to violate the accord, and would be free, if it chose, to resume fuel production, according to diplomats who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.
Iranian leaders have stressed that they will not accept any changes to the deal and that it is not negotiable in their view.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif recently said that if the United States withdraws from the 2015 nuclear deal, his country will likely do so as well.