Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who led the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiations, resigned Monday via Instagram, Iran’s Foreign Ministry confirmed. Per NBC News, it is unclear if Iranian President Hassan Rouhani or Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will accept the resignation.
Why it matters: Zarif's resignation comes eight months after President Trump announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the nuclear deal and less than a week after the UN's nuclear watchdog assessed that Iran is still in compliance with the terms of the deal. The other parties to the 2015 agreement — which include the U.S.' European allies, China and Russia — have remained committed to salvaging the deal, despite the Trump administration's re-introduction of sanctions against the Iranian regime.
As the second summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un approaches, the U.S. continues to focus its attention on the dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear program.
Yes, but: If Trump is serious about denuclearizing North Korea, he should also use the summit with Kim Jong-un to take steps toward negotiating a peace agreement and formally ending the Korean War, noting the diplomatic engagements that have taken place between North and South Korea in 2017 that help to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The U.K.'s Labour Party will back the idea of another "public vote" on Brexit, should its own Brexit plan fail in Parliament this week as expected, according to internal documents obtained by the BBC's Nick Robinson.
Why it matters: The party's internal briefing said the stance is necessary "in order to prevent a damaging [Brexit plan put forth by Prime Minister Theresa May] or no deal," adding that the vote would "need to have" an option for the U.K. to remain in the EU. Labour, which is the largest opposition party in Parliament, has faced internal tumult after 8 of its members resigned this month to form The Independent Group, citing the party's inconsistent Brexit strategy and allegations of anti-Semitism under leader Jeremy Corbyn.
We’re now 5 years on from the mass protests on the Maidan, Kiev’s central square, where Ukrainians with widely diverging values and visions of their country’s future braved bullets to oust then-President Viktor Yanukovych, Moscow’s man in Kiev.
Flashback: During weeks of demonstrations, more than 100 were killed and 2,500 injured in clashes with police. Yanukovych then fled to Moscow under cover of darkness, and Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Crimea. A continuing Kremlin-backed insurrection in two of Ukraine's eastern provinces has killed more than 10,000 people.
In a rare interview, Jared Kushner, who leads the White House "peace team," told Sky News Arabia that the upcoming U.S. peace plan will focus on "drawing the borders" between Israel and the Palestinians and solving the core issues in the conflict.
Why it matters: The details of the plan, which is expected to be revealed after the April 9 elections in Israel, have been a closely held secret. The forthcoming plan has already become an issue in Israel's election campaign, and Kushner's remarks today drew reactions from the key political players.
In a letter released Sunday, a group of Senate Democrats demanded that President Trump provide "tangible, verifiable progress on denuclearization" from his second summit this week with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Vietnam.
Details: The eight lawmakers, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, acknowledged that Kim has shown a "change in behavior" since the two leaders first met in Singapore last year, but said the isolated country still poses a nuclear threat and argued that Trump should "execute a serious diplomatic plan," including a process to verifiably freeze and roll back North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles programs.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told "Fox News Sunday" that "there may have to be another summit" after President Trump's upcoming meeting in Vietnam with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un — as it may not accomplish all of Trump's goals.
The big picture: During another appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," Pompeo told Jake Tapper that North Korea remains a nuclear threat, despite Trump's claim to the contrary immediately after his first summit with Kim last year in Singapore.
