‘Iran move won’t weaken US hand with N. Korea’
Tillerson says diplomacy continues until 1st ‘bomb drops’
— U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Sunday denied that Donald Trump’s threat to tear up the Iran nuclear deal had weakened America’s chance of reining in North Korea through diplomacy.
Asserting that Washington had “unified the international community” on the North Korean threat, Tillerson vowed efforts to contain its nuclear and ballistic missile drive through diplomacy would continue “until the first bomb drops.”
In a virulent speech watched around the world Friday, Trump refused to certify Iran’s compliance with the 2015 deal on curbing its nuclear program, kicking the accord’s fate to Congress which he told to address its “many serious flaws” — and threatening to walk away if his demands are not met.
By calling into question the landmark deal — to which Tehran seems to be adhering — worried allies fear the U.S. president sent a message to Pyongyang that America’s word cannot be trusted.
Tillerson pushed back at that notion on CNN’s State of the Union, saying: “I think what North Korea should take away from this decision is that the United States will expect a very demanding agreement with North Korea.” “One that is very binding and achieves the objectives not just of the United States but the policy objectives of China and other neighbors in the region, a denuclearized Korean peninsula.” “If we achieve that, there will be nothing to walk away from because the objective will be achieved.”
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley pushed the same argument during appearances on Sunday talk shows, telling ABC’s This Week that reevaluating the Iran deal “sends the perfect message to North Korea, which is, we’re not going to engage in a bad deal.”
Tillerson argued that U.S. efforts to bring Kim Jong-un’s regime closer to talks were bearing fruit, pointing at the fact both Russia and China, Pyongyang’s sole major ally, had signed up to the latest set of sanctions imposed in response to its sixth nuclear test — the largest yet — and the firing of two missiles over Japan.