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Trump Administration Grudgingly Confirms Iran’s Compliance With Nuclear Deal Tillerson Toughens Tone on Iran After U.S. Confirms Nuclear Deal Compliance
(about 11 hours later)
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has certified that Iran continues to comply with a 2015 nuclear agreement that President Trump denounced during the campaign as “the worst deal ever.” WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson declared on Wednesday that Iran continued to threaten the United States and the rest of the world and said that President Trump’s administration was reviewing ways to counter challenges posed by Tehran.
The certification decision, announced late Tuesday night, means that the administration has extended relief from sanctions given to the Iranian government in exchange for constraints on its nuclear program. His comments sought to clarify the administration’s certification late Tuesday night that Iran is complying with a 2015 agreement by world powers to limit Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing international sanctions that crippled the Islamic republic’s economy. During the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump denounced the nuclear agreement as “the worst deal ever.”
Mr. Tillerson adopted a decidedly sharper tone toward Iran in a hastily announced news conference late Wednesday afternoon. But he stopped short of stepping back from the historic deal, or announcing new sanctions against Iran.
“This deal represents the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat that we face from North Korea,” Mr. Tillerson told reporters at the State Department. “The Trump administration has no intention of passing the buck to a future administration on Iran. The evidence is clear: Iran’s provocative actions threaten the United States, the region and the world.”
Once the National Security Council completes its review of the nuclear deal, Mr. Tillerson said, “we will meet the challenges Iran poses with clarity and conviction.”
The certification decision means that the administration has extended relief from sanctions given to the Iranian government in exchange for constraints on its nuclear program.
But the certification was grudging, delivered just 90 minutes before a midnight deadline and with a headline in a news release announcing, “Iran Continues to Sponsor Terrorism.”But the certification was grudging, delivered just 90 minutes before a midnight deadline and with a headline in a news release announcing, “Iran Continues to Sponsor Terrorism.”
In his letter to Speaker Paul Ryan making the certification, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson wrote that the Trump administration was in the midst of an interagency review of the nuclear deal that will evaluate whether suspension of sanctions related to Iran under terms of the nuclear agreement “is vital to the national security interests of the United States.” In a letter to Speaker Paul D. Ryan making the certification, Mr. Tillerson cited the review that he said will evaluate whether suspension of sanctions related to Iran under the terms of the nuclear agreement “is vital to the national security interests of the United States.”
The Trump administration has sought since its earliest days in office to increase pressure on Iran, with former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn walking into the White House briefing room in the administration’s first two weeks to declare that the administration was “officially putting Iran on notice” after a ballistic missile launch. The Trump administration has sought since its earliest days in office to increase pressure on Iran. The national security adviser at that time, Michael T. Flynn, walked into the White House briefing room in the administration’s first two weeks to declare that “we are officially putting Iran on notice” after a ballistic missile launch.
But the administration has found to its frustration that there is no way to renegotiate the nuclear deal, and that canceling the deal would likely cause significant problems. Instead, the administration has imposed sanctions for activities not covered in the agreement, and it has ramped up military efforts to confront Iranian proxies in Yemen and elsewhere. But the administration has found to its frustration that there is no way to renegotiate the nuclear deal and that canceling it would probably cause significant problems. Instead, the administration has imposed sanctions for activities not covered in the agreement, and it has ramped up military efforts to confront Iranian proxies in Yemen and elsewhere.