President Donald Trump has warned that he would withdraw from the nuclear deal if the United States and European partners cannot agree on ways to fix its alleged flaws. The administration is aiming to sign a supplemental agreement that deals with the sunset clauses and Iran’s missile program. Trump will have to decide if the United States will continue to implement the deal by May 12. If Trump does not waive sanctions then, the United States will be in violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

A bipartisan group of more than 100 national security experts, known as the National Coalition to Prevent an Iranian Nuclear Weapon, has urged President Donald Trump to maintain the U.S. commitment to the nuclear deal. “Ditching it would serve no national security purpose,” they argued in a statement.

On March 22, 2018, President Donald Trump announced that John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will replace National Security Advisor General H.R. McMaster. Bolton served in the administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

President Donald Trump has warned that he would withdraw from the nuclear deal if the United States and European partners cannot agree on changes to the agreement. Since he issued his ultimatum on January 12, diplomats have been working to find common ground. In early March, the State Department’s policy planning director, Brian Hook, reportedly traveled to Europe to meet with British, French and German officials.

On March 12, the BBC said its journalists will appeal directly to the United Nations over alleged “persecution and harassment” by Iran of its Persian Service staff. The BBC has said that staff in London and/or their families in Iran have been targets of threats, arrests and travel bans. More than 20 staff or family members have received death threats. The appeal will be made at a U.N. Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva.

On March 12, President Donald Trump, like his predecessors, renewed the national emergency with respect to Iran. The following is the full text of the White House press release and Trump’s letter to Congress.

CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO IRAN

On March 9, four followers of Grand Ayatollah Sadegh Hossein Shirazi, an outspoken critic of Iran’s clerical leadership, climbed onto the first-floor balcony of Iran’s embassy in London and took down the flag. They waived blue-and-white flags of a U.K.-based Shiite group called Khodam al Mahdi, which reportedly supports Shirazi.

On February 18, former Secretary of State John Kerry pushed back against critics of the Iran nuclear deal, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. At the Munich Security Conference, Netanyahu warned that Iran would be on its way to having a nuclear arsenal in 10 years.

On February 11, President Hassan Rouhani proposed a referendum to heal political divisions during his speech marking the 39th anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

On February 10, tensions between two regional rivals escalated after an Israeli combat helicopter reportedly intercepted an Iranian drone that crossed the Syria-Israel border. IDF spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus told CNN that Israel tracked the unmanned craft from its launch from the Iranian T-4 command center near Palmyra, Syria. He said it was the first time an Iranian drone had crossed into Israeli territory since the Syrian conflict began in 2011.