Former British ambassador to the U.S. Kim Darroch said in a memo that President Trump abandoned the Iran nuclear deal to spite former President Barack Obama in an act of “diplomatic vandalism,” The Daily Mail reported, citing leaked cables and briefing notes.
The report on Darroch’s alleged assertion follows his resignation over leaked cables in which he called the Trump administration “clumsy and inept” and wrote that Trump was “radiating insecurity.” {mosads}
Darroch reportedly made the claim about the Iran deal in May 2018 after then-foreign minister Boris Johnson unsuccessfully visited the White House to try to persuade Trump not to abandon the deal, according to The Daily Mail.
Johnson is now a top candidate to become the U.K. prime minister.
The British newspaper reported that the claim was revealed in the documents that resulted in Darroch’s resignation.
“The Administration is set upon an act of diplomatic vandalism, seemingly for ideological and personality reasons – it was Obama’s deal,” Darroch wrote, according to The Daily Mail.
“Moreover, they can’t articulate any ‘day-after’ strategy; and contacts with State Department this morning suggest no sort of plan for reaching out to partners and allies, whether in Europe or the region.”
The Hill has not reviewed the cables. Other news outlets such as CNN and the British Broadcasting Corporation picked up The Daily Mail’s reporting.
The Hill reached out to the White House for comment.
Darroch stepped down Wednesday, writing in his resignation letter “The current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as I would like.”
Prior to Darroch’s resignation, Trump blasted the ambassador as “very stupid guy” and a “pompous fool.”
Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran deal in 2018.