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Trump Says He’s Made a Decision on Iran Nuclear Deal Trump Says He’s Made a Decision on Iran Nuclear Deal
(about 3 hours later)
President Trump said on Wednesday that he had made a decision on whether to withdraw the United States from the nuclear agreement his predecessor negotiated with Iran, but declined to tell reporters what it was. President Trump said on Wednesday that he had made a decision on what to do about the nuclear agreement his predecessor negotiated with Iran, but declined to tell reporters what it was.
“I have decided,” he said, repeating the phrase three times. Pressed by reporters, he added, “I’ll let you know what the decision is.” “I have decided,” he said, repeating the phrase three times. Pressed by reporters, he added: “I’ll let you know. I’ll let you know.”
His comments, made as he met with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, came the day after he told the United Nations General Assembly that the deal was “an embarrassment for the United States.” Mr. Trump’s comments, made as he met with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, came the day after he told the United Nations General Assembly that the deal was “an embarrassment for the United States.”
Under United States law, Mr. Trump has until Oct. 15 to certify whether Iran is complying with the agreement, which required it to dismantle much of its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. Mr. Trump has already certified Iran’s compliance twice, and most analysts said there was no cause to determine otherwise. Under United States law, Mr. Trump has until Oct. 15 to certify whether Iran is complying with the agreement, which required it to dismantle much of its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. Mr. Trump has already certified Iran’s compliance twice, and Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson acknowledged this week that Iran remains in “technical compliance.”
But Mr. Trump has made clear that he is reluctant to certify compliance a third time, citing destabilizing activities by Iran that are not directly covered by the agreement, including its ballistic missile program and support for terrorist groups in the Middle East. If he were to decide against certifying compliance, Congress could reimpose sanctions that were lifted as part of the agreement. But Mr. Trump has made clear that he is reluctant to certify compliance a third time, citing destabilizing activities by Iran that are not directly covered by the agreement, including its ballistic missile program and support for terrorist groups in the Middle East. If he were to decide against certifying compliance, Congress could reimpose sanctions that were lifted as part of the agreement, which would effectively unravel it. If Congress did not act, the agreement could remain in force.
The other five major powers that negotiated the agreement along with President Barack Obama have resisted any effort by Mr. Trump to tear it up. President Emmanuel Macron of France told the General Assembly on Tuesday that the agreement was “solid, robust and verifiable” and that renouncing it would be a “grave error.” The other five major powers that negotiated the agreement along with President Barack Obama have resisted any effort by Mr. Trump to tear it up.
President Hassan Rouhani of Iran told NBC News on Tuesday that an American withdrawal from the agreement “would carry a high cost” and would mean that “no one will trust America again.” President Emmanuel Macron of France, speaking to reporters outside the United Nations Security Council chambers on Wednesday, declined to say whether Mr. Trump had shared with him his decision on the Iran deal, but said France favored keeping it “because it’s a good one.”
Nikki R. Haley, the American ambassador to the United Nations, said on Wednesday that Mr. Trump’s speech should not be interpreted as a “clear signal he plans to withdraw,” but that it showed that he was “clearly not happy” with it. Mr. Macron said the agreement should be amended to cover ballistic missiles and extended to last beyond 2025. He also said he favored “an open discussion with Iran about the current situation in the region.” But he added, “I think it would be a mistake just to abandon the nuclear agreement without that.”
In an interview with CBS News, Ms. Haley said that the United States was not safer because of the deal given Iran’s other activities and that Mr. Rouhani should do more to curb Tehran’s behavior. Speaking to the General Assembly, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran on Wednesday praised the nuclear deal as a “model,” arguing that the Middle East was safer for it, and said Mr. Trump’s threat “undermines international confidence in negotiating with it.”
“Imagine for a moment how the Middle East would have looked had the J.C.P.O.A. not been concluded,” he said, using the initials for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name of the deal.
The Iranian president sought to flip the script on the Trump administration’s contention that Iran destabilizes the Middle East. He said American taxpayers should ask why billions of dollars spent in the region has not advanced peace, and “has only brought war, misery, poverty” and the “rise of extremism to the region.”
“The ignorant, absurd and hateful rhetoric, filled with ridiculously baseless allegations, that was uttered before this august body yesterday,” Mr. Rouhani said, “was not only unfit to be heard at the United Nations — which was established to promote peace and respect between nations — but indeed contradicted the demands of our nations from this world body to bring governments together to combat war and terror.”
He added: “It will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by rogue newcomers to the world of politics. The world will have lost a great opportunity.”
Nikki R. Haley, the American ambassador to the United Nations, said on Wednesday that Mr. Trump’s speech to the General Assembly should not be interpreted as a “clear signal he plans to withdraw” from the deal, but that it showed that he was “clearly not happy” with it.
In an interview with CBS News, Ms. Haley said that given Iran’s other activities, the United States was not safer because of the deal, and that Mr. Rouhani should do more to curb Tehran’s behavior.
“I think what he needs to do is instead of focusing on us leaving the agreement, he needs to start following the rules,” she said. “He’s got to stop smuggling arms, he’s got to stop all of the meddling they’re doing over the Middle East, stop the ballistic missile testing. He is not keeping his end of the deal, and what he’s trying to do is put it on us. But we have to keep it on him.”“I think what he needs to do is instead of focusing on us leaving the agreement, he needs to start following the rules,” she said. “He’s got to stop smuggling arms, he’s got to stop all of the meddling they’re doing over the Middle East, stop the ballistic missile testing. He is not keeping his end of the deal, and what he’s trying to do is put it on us. But we have to keep it on him.”
Other Trump advisers sent mixed signals about whether Mr. Trump would pull out of the agreement or seek to revise it. Secretary of State Tillerson suggested that Mr. Trump might try to renegotiate.
“The president really wants to redo that deal,” he told Fox News on Tuesday. “We do need the support, I think, of our allies, the European allies and others, to make the case as well to Iran that this deal really has to be revisited.”
He focused on the provision that allows the deal to expire in a decade. “If we’re going to stick with the Iran deal, there has to be changes made to it,” Mr. Tillerson said. “The sunset provision simply is not a sensible way forward. It’s just simply, as I say, kicking the can down the road again for someone in the future to have to deal with.”
Representative Ed Royce of California, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, suggested it would be better to make the agreement work rather than pull out altogether. “I think we should enforce the hell out of the agreement and thereby force compliance on the part of Iran,” Mr. Royce said on CNN on Tuesday.
He noted that once sanctions were lifted, Iran recovered funds that had been frozen in the West, so pulling out now would not recover lost leverage. “They now have this money,” Mr. Royce said. “And so in a way, the toothpaste is out of the tube.”
But Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a frequent outside adviser to Mr. Trump, said he expected the president to pull out of the Iran deal.
“I am just telling you that I know the guy for the last 15 years,” he said, “and if I had to guess, that’s my guess of what’s going to happen, because of what I’ve heard him say during the campaign and what I think he believes philosophically, which is a bad deal is worse than no deal.” Mr. Christie made his comments at a conference hosted by United Against Nuclear Iran, an advocacy group, according to the Jewish Insider newsletter.