The White House has pulled the plug on the Iran nuclear deal, blindsiding allies and triggering a furious response from London. Downing Street warns of an “imminent risk” of nuclear escalation in the Middle East.
Sources close to the Prime Minister say they were given just hours’ notice before the announcement. “We were told, not consulted,” one Downing Street aide fumed. The decision marks the final nail in the coffin for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which has been on life support since Trump’s withdrawal in 2018.
The mood in Westminster is brittle. Backbenchers are sharpening their knives. Labour’s shadow foreign secretary called it “a reckless act of diplomatic arson.” Even some Tory MPs, normally loyal on foreign policy, are murmuring dissent. “This makes Britain less safe, not more,” a senior Conservative told me.
The numbers are stark: Iran’s uranium enrichment has crept closer to weapons-grade. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s latest report, seen by this bureau, shows stockpiles far beyond the deal’s limits. Tehran, emboldened by Washington’s retreat, may now race for a bomb.
What happens next? Options are thin. The UK and EU will try to salvage something through snapback mechanisms, but without US leverage, it is a paper shield. The Foreign Office is scrambling to rebuild a diplomatic firewall. Hardliners in Tehran smell blood.
This is a failure of intelligence and foresight. The White House gambled that Tehran would buckle under maximum pressure. It didn’t. Now London watches anxiously as the region teeters.
Eleanor Rigby, Political Bureau Chief
