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Trump: 'Wherever There's Trouble' in Middle East, 'Iran Is Behind It'

April 24, 2018

President Donald Trump said Iran seems to be behind any "trouble" that arises in the Middle East.

Trump's statement came at the White House after French President Emmanuel Macron, who was meeting with Trump as part of the U.S. president's first state visit, fielded a question about the Iran nuclear deal.

"What would you tell the president about the Iran nuclear deal?" a reporter asked Macron.

Macron spoke at length in French before saying in English, "What I just said is that Iran deal is an important issue we'll discuss about, but we have to take it as part of a broader picture, which is security in the overall region."

Trump added his own thoughts on Iran.

"It just seems that no matter where you go, especially in the Middle East, Iran is behind it. Wherever there's trouble–Yemen, Syria, no matter where you have it–Iran is behind it. And now unfortunately Russia is getting more and more involved," Trump said.

Trump called the Iran deal a "disaster," saying Iran should not be allowed to continue its liberal testing of ballistic missiles.

"You look at the ballistic missiles that they're going and testing. What kind of a deal is it where you're allowed to test missiles all over the place?" he said.

"You just look at what's happening in virtually any place in the Middle East, Iran is behind it," Trump reiterated.

Trump added that if Iran restarts its nuclear program, they're going to have "big problems, bigger than they've ever had before."

The Trump administration has threatened to pull out of the Iran deal, which was negotiated under the Obama administration, unless changes are made. U.S. allies and signatories in the deal, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, have encouraged Trump to stay committed and are in the midst of negotiations to mitigate his concerns.

Published under: Donald Trump , France , Iran