The Guardian | Patrick Wintour: The abrupt dismissal of Rex Tillerson as US secretary of state was seen overseas as a hardening of the Donald Trump’s America First policy, a serious blow to the future of the Iran nuclear deal, and a possible harbinger of a full-blown trade war with the European Union.

In his brief comments on Tillerson’s removal, Trump mentioned policy disagreements over Iran.

The US president has made no secret of his distaste for the multilateral 2015 deal – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan for Action – which imposed strict curbs on the Iranian nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief. Tillerson, by contrast, had consistently argued that the US should remain in step with European allies and support the agreement.

On Tuesday, Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, tweeted: “Mr Trump has made habit of being unpredictable and thus unreliable for anybody to engage with. Nobody will be interested in reaching any agreement with the White House if US signature only good for 4-8 yrs.”

Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, will also be unnerved at the likely impact of Tillerson’s dismissal on the Iran deal.

France, Germany and the UK have been under relentless US and Gulf pressure to tear up the deal, or at least add supplementary treaties, covering the Iranian ballistic missile programme.

 

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