US top brass support nuke pact
AMERICA’S top military leaders have stated unequivocally that they believe the US should stay in the Iran nuclear deal, staking out a position at odds with President Donald Trump’s only days before he decides whether to certify that Tehran is in compliance with the deal.
Asked by Senator Angus King if he believed “it’s in our national security interest at the present time to remain” in the nuclear pact, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said: “Yes, senator, I do.”
Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph F Dunford jr spoke during hearings before the Senate and House armed services committees that were primarily focused on the state of the war in Afghanistan.
But at each hearing, the top Pentagon officials faced questions about the Iran nuclear pact, which is hitting a critical deadline.
Trump must decide by October 15 if he will certify that Tehran is in compliance with the terms of the multilateral pact under which Iran agreed to give up its nuclear ambitions in exchange for a withdrawal of nuclear sanctions.
Since his presidential campaign, Trump has been harsh in his criticism of Iran and the nuclear pact. He called the deal “an embarrassment” during a speech to the UN General Assembly last month.
Should Trump decline to certify the deal, the decision of whether to adhere to, or rupture, the pact would belong to Congress, as lawmakers would have to decide whether to reimpose sanctions.
Even the Republicans are divided over what they think is the most prudent course of action.
But Mattis and Dunford were unanimous in their support for the deal.
Even if Trump declines to certify Iran’s compliance, Mattis told the lawmakers, Congress did not have to rip up the nuclear deal.
“We’re talking about the law that is passed up here, where we have to certify, plus the agreement… they’re two different pieces,” Mattis told Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
“You can talk about the conditions under one of those and not walk away from the other one of those.”
Later, in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, the defense secretary said: “Overall, our intelligence community believes that they (Iran) have been compliant, and the IAEA also says so.”