Tillerson says Iran deal may get ‘ secondary’ revamp, not scrapped
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson backpedaled Sunday from President Trump’s announcement Friday that he would decertify the nuclear deal the Obama administration negotiated with Iran.
Instead, Tillerson told CNN’s Jake Tapper that the administration’s fix to the deal may be a “secondary agreement,” as opposed to killing or amending the original deal. The United States’ European allies who also signed the deal — France, Germany and Great Britain— have announced they oppose trying to renegotiate the deal.
Regarding a much- reported comment that he called Trump a “moron” after a meeting in July, the top diplomat said he would not dignify the story with a comment. Tillerson also said Trump has not “castrated” him publicly, as Sen. Bob Corker, R- Tenn., said after Trump tweeted that Tillerson was “wasting his time” negotiating with North Korea.
“I checked, I’mfully intact,” said Tillerson.
The Iran deal also was a key focus on NBC’s Meet the Press. Nikki Haley, the United Nations ambassador, said there was an ominous global nuclear threat.
“The whole reason we’re looking at this Iran agreement is because of North Korea,” she said, although Trump has complained about the Iran deal since it was signed in 2015, before the latest issues with North Korea and its nuclear program heated up.
The Iran deal prevents Iran from trying to develop nuclear weapons for at least a decade in exchange for relief from international economic sanctions.
Trump will not ask Congress to reimpose sanctions right away, a move that could prompt Iran to back out of the deal and resume its nuclear development program. Iranian leaders said Friday they would still abide by the agreement.
Congress requires the president to certify Iran’s compliance with the agreement every three months.