US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Deal has been branded as "reckless" by SDLP Leader, Colum Eastwood.

On Tuesday, the US President announced the US would withdraw from the Obama-era agreement and reimpose economic sanctions on Iran that were waived when the deal was first signed in 2015.

Iran responded by stating it will restart the process of uranium enrichment, a key part for making both nuclear energy and weapons.

Speaking today, 09 May, Mr Eastwood called upon Iran and European allies to continue to preserve the deal "in spite of President Trump's whimsical decision to attempt to sabotage it".

"Efforts to de-escalate fears of developing nuclear arms have been blown out of the water by Trump's decision to walk away from the deal," he said.

"Like all matters of foreign policy, pragmatism is the essence of good diplomacy in volatile political environments, not rash decisions driven by the ideology of 'self'.

"Despite Trump's claim that the deal "didn't bring calm and didn't bring peace", the avoidance of the creation of nuclear arms should be considered a win. Right now there can be no ambiguity around this crisis that it is Trump, not Iran, that is violating the deal.

"Trump's delusion should worry us all. His fixation on sticking it to Obama and his determination to follow through on outrageous policies, both foreign and domestic, should be of great concern to the international community.

"I am calling on Iran and European allies to continue to preserve the deal in spite of President Trump's whimsical decision to attempt to sabotage it."

(LM/MH)