The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Trump won’t pull out of ‘worst’ nuclear deal — for now
President Donald Trump on Friday angrily accused Iran of violating the landmark 2015 international nuclear accord, blaming the Iranians for a litany of sinister behavior and hitting their main military wing with anti-terror penalties. But Trump, breaking his campaign pledge to rip up the agreement, did not pull the U.S. out or reimpose nuclear sanctions.
He still might, he was quick to add. For now, he’s tossing the issue to Congress and the other nations in the seven-country accord, telling lawmakers to toughen the law that governs U.S. participation and calling on the other parties to fix a series of deficiencies. Those include the scheduled expiration of key restrictions under “sunset provisions” that begin to take effect in 2025, as well as the omission of provisions on ballistic missile testing and terrorism.
Without the fixes, Trump warned, he would likely pull the U.S. out of the deal — which he has called the worst in U.S. history — and slap previously lifted U.S. sanctions back into place. That would probably be a fatal blow for the seven-party accord.
“Our participation can be canceled by me, as president, at any time,” Trump declared in a carefully delivered speech read from a teleprompter in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House. He added later, speaking of Congress, “They may come back with something that’s very satisfactory to me, and if they don’t, within a very short period of time, I’ll terminate the deal.”
Under U.S. law, Trump faces a Sunday deadline to certify to Congress whether Iran is complying with the accord. That notification must take place every 90 days, a timetable Trump detests. Since taking office, he has twice reluctantly certified that Iran is fulfilling its commitments.