Trump’s stance on Iran nuclear deal creating “chasm” with allies: US President Donald Trump’s attitude towards the Iran nuclear power agreement is creating “a widening chasm of mutual disdain between the United States and its traditional allies,” Karen DeYoung writes for the Washington Post. The countries that signed the 2015 agreement — France, the UK, China, Russia, and Germany — did not respond well to Trump’s Friday announcement that he would terminate the agreement with Iran “if Congress didn’t come up with a way to rewrite it to his liking,” receiving scorn from EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini who saw the move as a power play. Trump accused Iran of failing to honor the agreement and later told the press that “the Europeans were only interested in Iran’s money.” Trump gave Congress 60 days to decide what to do with the agreement. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement backing Trump’s decision.

Trump’s “gamble won’t pay off,” Richard Nephew says in the FT (paywall). Not only is the agreement as it stands “very much in the US’ national security interests,” as State Secretary Rex Tillerson also stressed, but the hurdles are just too many, with no guarantees that Iran would even accept.