Canada’s Trudeau rebukes US over scuttling Iran deal

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau censored the Trump administration Wednesday for pulling out of the Iran nuclear agreement.

Canada and the United States share the world’s longest undefended border – nearly 4,000 miles – and are close allies, but that did not stop Trudeau’s criticism of the U.S., although he worded it gently.

He also said Canada stands with its other NATO allies to continue to back the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“We know that standing firmly in support of the JCPOA with our NATO allies and others is extremely important,” he told reporters in Ottawa.

“We will respect the capacity of individual countries to make their decisions about foreign policy. But for Canada’s purpose, we make our decision around foreign policy here in Ottawa, not in Washington, not elsewhere.”

Trudeau said the agreement had flaws, but it did keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

Canada plays host to the G7 summit in June and Trudeau is its 2018 chairman. Trump’s scuttling of the deal almost certainly guarantees a fractious affair between the U.S. and its G7 partners at the summit.

Both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson have said their countries will continue to support the agreement, as have Russia and China.