Iran nuclear deal exit won’t harm Korea talks, says top Trump adviser

National Security Adviser John Bolton also says fears of American 'boots on the ground' in Iran are 'badly mistaken'

National Security Advisor John Bolton told reporters Donald Trump viewed the Iran pact as 'one of the worst deals ever negotiated in American diplomatic history' (Reuters)

Donald Trump’s national security adviser said Mr Trump pulling the US from a nuclear arms deal with Iran would not derail a parallel effort to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear programme.

Critics had warned that a decision by Mr Trump to nix the Iran nuclear deal just over two years after the American-brokered pact took effect would undermine America’s credibility heading into a crucial summit between Mr Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Iranian president Hassan Rousani reacted to Mr Trump’a decision by warning the president was “not loyal to international commitments”.

But national security adviser John Bolton argued that the abandonment of the Iran pact would strengthen America’s position by telegraphing that the US would rebuff unsatisfactory offers.

“I think the message to North Korea is the president wants a real deal”, Mr Bolton told reporters. “It sends a very clear signal that the United States will not accept inadequate deals”.

“Any nation reserves the right to correct a past mistake”, Mr Bolton added in reference to the Iran deal.

The hawkish national security adviser - who was a staunch advocate of the invasion of Iraq and has urged preemptive strikes on North Korea and Iran - tamped down worries of a military confrontation with Iran, dismissing fears of American “boots on the ground” as “badly mistaken”.

Russian legislator Yevgeny Serebrennikov saw things differently, telling the RIA news agency that the US renunciation of the Iran deal cast doubt on the Korean peace process. Russia's envoy to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, said Russia would work to sustain the Iran pact.

Offering evidence that the North Korea effort was proceeding despite the Iran announcement, Mr Trump said secretary of state Mike Pompeo was again en route to North Korea to smooth the path towards a meeting.

“Plans are being made. Relationships are building. Hopefully, a deal will happen and, with the help of China, South Korea, and Japan, a future of great prosperity and security can be achieved for everyone”, Mr Trump said.

Mr Pompeo had already made a clandestine trip to Pyongyang over Easter weekend, when he was still directing the CIA, to try and build a foundation for US-Korea talks.

Mr Bolton declined to tell reporters if Mr Pompeo's visit was intended in part to bring home a trio of American citizens being held in North Korea, although he noted “Mr Trump has said on any number of occasions he wants the hostages released”.

Just as Mr Trump has publicly denounced the Iranian regime, he spent months mocking and threatening North Korean leadership as Pyongyang tested a series of increasingly sophisticated ballistic missiles.

But Mr Kim pivoted to diplomacy earlier this year, using the Winter Olympics in South Korea to establish a dialogue with Seoul and then convey to the White House, via South Korean intermediaries, the offer for an unprecedented meeting.

Ahead of the planned summit, North Korea has conveyed a commitment to denuclearising and has said it will not demand the exit of American troops from the Korean Peninsula. It had also urged a formal end to the Korean War, which ended in an armistice that fractured the peninsula - a goal South Korean leadership has embraced.

Before Mr Kim’s overture, the United Nations had clamped multiple iterations of punishing sanctions on North Korea. While Mr Trump has expressed hopefulness about striking a deal to halt Pyongyang’s weapons programme, he has emphasised that diplomacy must be paired with an unwavering “maximum pressure” campaign.