Australia, France, in support of Iran nuclear deal
Emmanuel Macron, Malcolm Turnbull fear looming demise of Iran nuclear deal Financial Review 1 May 18 by Andrew Tillett
Last-ditch efforts to prevent the Iran nuclear agreement from completely collapsing will feature in talks between Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, amid the growing likelihood Donald Trump will ditch the deal.
Australia has expressed its support for retaining the agreement, which requires Iran to curtail the development of nuclear weapons in return for economic and diplomatic sanctions being lifted, in a rare split with the White House.
During Mr Turnbull’s recent European visit, Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg both pressed upon him their concerns that Mr Trump will not certify the agreement by the May 12 deadline.
Both Ms Merkel and Mr Macron pushed Mr Trump not to abandon the agreement during their separate visits to Washington DC last week, with the French leader conceding he expected Mr Trump would cancel the deal because of US domestic politics.
A senior government source said Mr Turnbull would offer Mr Macron support for keeping the agreement alive when they meet in Sydney on Wednesday.
Mr Macron’s visit will be dominated by security and defence, including greater cooperation between Australia and France on development in the South Pacific to serve as a counterweight to China’s rise.
……Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia’s position was that the agreement – formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – should remain in place until such time as an alternative could be negotiated.
“I have made our views clear to the Trump administration and again during my recent discussion with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,” Ms Bishop told The Australian Financial Review.
“Our ongoing political support for the JCPOA is based on advice from the International Atomic Energy Agency that the deal is providing verifiable assurances on Iran’s nuclear program.
…..Lowy Institute non-resident fellow Anthony Bubalo said Australia was a peripheral player in the debate but Canberra would be “very conscious of any implications” a US withdrawal would have for negotiations with North Korea. Far from sending the “right message” to Kim Jong-un, it signalled to North Korea not to trust a deal struck with an US administration.
“It undermines efforts to strike a deal with North Korea,” he said. http://www.afr.com/news/emmanuel-macron-malcolm-turnbull-fear-looming-demise-of-iran-nuclear-deal-20180501-h0zh4t
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1.This month.
The Road to War brings a sharp focus to why it is not in Australia’s best interest to be dragged into a war with China which will almost inevitably go nuclear very quickly. The filmmaker has interviewed some of Australia’s senior foreign policy analysts who have vast experience behind them in analysing what really is going on here as the United States rattles its sabres with China. And sets us up to be its proxy, like the poor Ukranians have been fed into the Meatgrinder. So America can remain the Top Dog. The Road to War reveals how the United States through its spy base at Pine Gap and by stationing six nuclear capable B52 bombers in the Top End (without permission from the traditional owners) is making Australia a prime nuclear target if the current war of words suddenly melts down into full scale war.
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Antinuclear 
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