Trump renews threat to pull out of landmark Iran nuclear deal
DONALD TRUMP has renewed his threat to fully withdraw the US from the landmark Iran nuclear deal.
Justifying his decision to decertify the 2015 pact, the president said the US had been taken advantage of in negotiations conducted by the Obama administration and that he was tired of it.
He said that is why he refused to certify to Congress last week that the deal remains in America’s national security interest.
At a cabinet meeting, Mr Trump said the final resolution “might be total termination”.
He added that “some would say that’s a great possibility”.
Mr Trump de-certified the pact on the grounds that Iran had committed several violations of the deal and is receiving disproportionate relief from international sanctions.
“I feel strongly about what I did,” Mr Trump told reporters at a meeting in the White House. “I’m tired of being taken advantage of as a nation.
“This nation has been taken advantage of for many, many years, for many decades, frankly, and I’m tired of watching it. But the Iran deal was something that I felt had to be done.”
Legislators in Congress now have 60 days to snap back sanctions on Iran that had been suspended, keep the status quo or, as the Trump administration has suggested, amend or replace the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act – which compels the president to reaffirm Iran’s compliance with the deal every 90 days.
The law’s requirements could be broadened so sanctions relief for Iran is contingent on things beyond the nuclear deal, such as Tehran halting ballistic missile testing.
At the same time, the administration is pressing Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the European Union to fix what Mr Trump believes are flaws, including the expiray of some restrictions on nuclear activity under so-called “sunset provisions”.
All the other nations in the deal say the Iran deal is working and that there is no reason to reopen negotiations