Trump’s decision on Iran nuke deal top, top secret
NEW YORK — U.S. President Donald Trump has determined how he wants to approach the Iran nuclear deal — which he has called the worst agreement ever negotiated by the United States — but has not told even his top national security advisers what his decision is.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that Trump had not informed him or others in the administration about his decision, and had refused to share it with British Prime Minister Theresa May when she asked him about it.
Tillerson said he was surprised when Trump publicly announced he had reached a decision. He repeated the president’s longstanding position that the deal does not address troubling nonnuclear behaviour despite the hopes of those who negotiated it.
Trump has sent strong signals that he could walk away from the seven-nation agreement, which would potentially lead to new U.S. sanctions on Iran and its international trading partners. The Iranians, in turn, have threatened to respond to any U.S. pullout by restarting nuclear activities that could take them closer to bombmaking capability.
Tillerson spoke to reporters after a meeting of the parties to the nuclear deal, including Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The meeting marked the highest-level U.S.-Iranian encounter since Trump became president.
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who hosted the meeting, said all parties to the accord — including Tillerson — agreed it “is working and is delivering for its purpose.”
Tillerson said that while Iran might be meeting its obligations to the letter of the deal, it is violating its spirit.
The meeting in the UN Security Council chambers followed two days of increasingly hostile rhetoric between Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Trump’s withering critique before the UN General Assembly Tuesday included an accusation that Iran’s government “masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy,” while ruthlessly repressing its people and exploiting the limits of the nuclear deal.
In response, Rouhani lashed out at Trump’s “ignorant, absurd and hateful rhetoric.”
Addressing the General Assembly on Wednesday, Rouhani said Iran won’t be the first to violate the nuclear agreement, “but it will respond decisively to its violation by any party. It will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by rogue newcomers to the world of politics.”