Europeans work to save Iran deal, business, after Trump pulls out

Dismayed European allies sought on Wednesday to salvage the Iran nuclear deal and preserve their Iranian trade after President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the landmark accord and ordered sanctions reimposed on Tehran.

"The deal is not dead. There's an American withdrawal from the deal but the deal is still there," French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.

But Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist who helped engineer the 2015 deal to ease Iran's economically crippling isolation, told French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in a phone call that Europe had only a "limited opportunity" to preserve the pact, the Iranian Students' News Agency reported.

"(Europe)... must, as quickly as possible, clarify its position and specify and announce its intentions with regard to its obligations," ISNA quoted Rouhani as telling Macron.