UK and world powers work to salvage nuclear deal with Iran threatened by Donald Trump
Video report by ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore
Britain has joined leading world powers pushing to salvage a breakthrough nuclear deal with Iran after Donald Trump warned he was ready to scrap the 2015 accord.
The pact - brokered by a number of countries including Britain, the US, France and Germany - offered Iran relief from crippling economic sanctions in exchange for strict limits on its nuclear programme.
The US president sparked alarm after announcing that he will not re-certify the deal to Congress because the regime is not living up to the "spirit" of it and has committed "multiple violations" of the agreement.
Britain, France and Germany "stand committed" to the Iran nuclear deal and are "concerned by the possible implications" of Donald Trump's refusal to back it, the country's leaders said in a joint statement.
Iran's president Hassan Rouhani insisted that his country is committed to all international accords and that the nuclear deal cannot be revoked by one country.
He said Tehran will "continue to stick to" the deal, but warned the nation could change its mind.
In comments aired on Iranian state television, Mr Rouhani said the nuclear deal is "much more strong" than Mr Trump is aware.
An Iranian government official also said Mr Trump's comments had "no international relevance or credibility".
A statement from the three countries said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had "repeatedly confirmed" Iran's compliance to the terms it signed up to.
It read: "We encourage the US administration and Congress to consider the implications to the security of the US and its allies before taking any steps that might undermine the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA), such as re-imposing sanctions on Iran lifted under the agreement."
It added: "We look to Iran to engage in constructive dialogue to stop destabilising actions and work towards negotiated solutions."
'One of the worst transactions the US has entered into'
Speaking at the White House on Friday, Mr Trump said he has ordered his administration to work closely with Congress to address the deal's "many flaws".
Without measures to toughen it up "the agreement will be terminated", he said.
Mr Trump criticised the deal saying it was "one of the worst and one most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into", adding that it gave Iran "an immediate financial boost and over $100 billion its government could use to fund terrorism".
He said "several major steps" would be taken to "confront the Iranian regime's hostile actions" and to "ensure that Iran... never acquires a nuclear weapon"
Iran, he said, has "spread death, destruction and chaos all around the globe."
Mr Trump said the regime "remains the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism and provides assistance to Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Hezbollah... and other terrorist networks.
He continued: "It develops, deploys and proliferates missiles that threaten American troops and our allies.
"It imprisons Americans on false charges and it launches cyber attacks against our critical infrastructure, financial system and military."
Reaction to Trump's refusal to back deal
Video report by ITV News Correspondent Angus Walker
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Mr Trump for his "courageous" decision not to re-certify the Iran nuclear deal.
Mr Netanyahu said Mr Trump had created an opportunity to "fix this bad deal" and to roll back Iran's aggression. He encouraged all other relevant nations to do the same.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said there is a "possibility" that the deal could be "unpicked" by Congress, but added: "I think that is unlikely because we will work very hard to persuade our friends and partners in the US Congress that we think the deal has value."
He said: "There is no proposal to renegotiate the deal. What we need to do is keep that deal going. It's been a great success for UK diplomacy.
"This deal lives to fight another day and that's a good thing."
Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry accused Mr Trump of an "act of wanton vandalism" and said it was "high time" the government stopped kow-towing to the US president and challenged him on his actions.
She said: "It is an act of wanton vandalism for Donald Trump to jeopardise the future of that deal today, and to move the goalposts by linking it to important but utterly extraneous issues around Iran's wider activities in the region.
"It is also totally disingenuous to suggest that the deal just needs to be fixed, when the only evidence that it is any way broken is inside Donald Trump's head."