Trump says Iran will seek fresh deal as sanctions weigh on economy

BRUSSELS: US President Donald Trump said Iran’s economic troubles were going to force it to seek a security deal with Washington following his withdrawal from a nuclear pact.

This may cut Iran’s hard currency earnings from oil exports, and the prospect has triggered a panicked flight of Iranians’ savings from the rial into dollars, weighing on an already ailing local currency, hit by economic woes and financial difficulties at local banks.

Speaking to a news conference at a Nato leaders summit in Brussels, Trump said Iran was treating the US with ‘so much more respect’ following the move and he expected Tehran to reach out for a fresh deal. “I know they’re having a lot of problems and their economy is collapsing. But I will tell you this: at a certain point they’re going to call me they’re going to say ‘Let’s make a deal’. They’re feeling a lot of pain right now. “Tehran’s Grand Bazaar was hit by strikes late in June and protesters angered by the rial’s collapse clashed with the police and traders massed outside parliament to complain about a sharp fall in the value of the national currency.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on American allies on Thursday to help impose economic pressure on Iran, and accused Tehran of continuing to sell weapons in the Middle East despite United Nations resolutions. “We must cut off all funding the regime uses to fund terrorism & proxy wars,” Pompeo said in a Twitter post ahead of a scheduled meeting with the European Union’s foreign affairs and security policy representative.

Trump forces Nato allies to boost defence spending: US President Donald Trump said Nato countries had agreed to increase their defence spending after he forced crisis talks over his mounting demands at a fractious summit in Brussels.

Trump said there had been “tremendous progress” after his “firm” warnings during the tense two-day meeting in Brussels, during which he singled out Germany for special criticism. “I let them know I was extremely unhappy with what was happening and they have substantially upped their commitment and now we’re very happy and have a very, very powerful, very very strong Nato, much stronger than it was two days ago,” Trump said in a freewheeling press conference. “Tremendous progress has been made, everyone’s agreed to substantially up their commitment they’re going to up it at levels they’ve never thought of before. It’s been amazing to see the level of spirit in that room.”

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has cosied up to Trump despite their wide political differences, said Nato was “much stronger” after the summit.

Trump threw the summit into turmoil by demanding not only that allies reach their commitment to increase spending to two percent of GDP “immediately” — instead of by 2024 as previously agreed — but also telling them to eventually double the figure to a punishing four percent.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called an emergency session of all 29 allies to address Trump’s demands, and the US leader said his hectoring had paid off. “The commitment was at two percent and that’ll be going up quite a bit higher than that,” he said.