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| Trump Approves Broad Strategy on Iran, but No Decision Yet on Scrapping Nuclear Deal | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| WASHINGTON — President Trump has approved a broad strategy to crack down on Iran for its ballistic missile program and support for militant groups throughout the Middle East, according to a senior administration official, although he has yet to formally sign off on “decertifying” the nuclear accord negotiated by the Obama administration. | WASHINGTON — President Trump has approved a broad strategy to crack down on Iran for its ballistic missile program and support for militant groups throughout the Middle East, according to a senior administration official, although he has yet to formally sign off on “decertifying” the nuclear accord negotiated by the Obama administration. |
| Mr. Trump has been expected to withdraw certification of the nuclear deal since he declared at the United Nations General Assembly two weeks ago that the agreement was “embarrassing to the United States,” and that he had made up his mind what to do about it. | Mr. Trump has been expected to withdraw certification of the nuclear deal since he declared at the United Nations General Assembly two weeks ago that the agreement was “embarrassing to the United States,” and that he had made up his mind what to do about it. |
| But the president has not yet signed a decision memo on the deal itself, the official said. | But the president has not yet signed a decision memo on the deal itself, the official said. |
| Even if the president takes that step, it would fall short of scrapping the accord because the White House would kick the deal to Congress to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Iran. | Even if the president takes that step, it would fall short of scrapping the accord because the White House would kick the deal to Congress to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Iran. |
| Mr. Trump is expected to announce his Iran strategy in a speech as early as next week. Administration officials emphasized that the nuclear deal is one part of a multidimensional approach to pressure Iran on many fronts, including its missile program, its support for groups like Hezbollah and its intervention in the Syrian civil war on behalf of the Assad government. | Mr. Trump is expected to announce his Iran strategy in a speech as early as next week. Administration officials emphasized that the nuclear deal is one part of a multidimensional approach to pressure Iran on many fronts, including its missile program, its support for groups like Hezbollah and its intervention in the Syrian civil war on behalf of the Assad government. |
| The nuclear deal has assumed outsize importance in the relationship with Iran for a number of reasons, not least Mr. Trump’s repeated ridiculing of it during the 2016 presidential election and the fact that it is one of the landmark foreign policy achievements of his predecessor, President Barack Obama. | The nuclear deal has assumed outsize importance in the relationship with Iran for a number of reasons, not least Mr. Trump’s repeated ridiculing of it during the 2016 presidential election and the fact that it is one of the landmark foreign policy achievements of his predecessor, President Barack Obama. |
| If Mr. Trump withdraws certification, it would thrust Congress into a volatile debate over whether to reimpose nuclear-related sanctions, which would probably explode the deal, or to impose sanctions on other issues, like missiles, which could keep the deal intact. | If Mr. Trump withdraws certification, it would thrust Congress into a volatile debate over whether to reimpose nuclear-related sanctions, which would probably explode the deal, or to impose sanctions on other issues, like missiles, which could keep the deal intact. |
| White House officials have begun to describe their strategy on the Iran deal to allied governments and members of Congress. The strategy indicates that Mr. Trump is looking for a way to register his protest that the Iran deal is a “disaster” — the claim he made during the presidential campaign — without scuttling the agreement. | |
| If he did violate the terms of the deal by reimposing sanctions, it would free Iran to begin producing uranium and reprocessing plutonium immediately. Under the deal, Iran is prohibited from that production for another 13 years — the reason that Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis have opposed leaving the accord. | |
| But Mr. Trump has told his aides he would not sign a “recertification” of Iran’s compliance with the accord again, a threat he has made in public as well. | |
| As a result, the administration is looking for ways to claim Iran is in violation of the “spirit” of the accord even if it has complied with its inspection criteria. The International Atomic Energy Agency has also said Iran was in compliance, and when it has found minor violations they have been quickly fixed. | |
| But the larger question is whether Mr. Trump’s “decertification” will gradually strangle the bigger goals of the nuclear negotiation: To integrate Iran with Western economies while assuring it cannot build a nuclear weapon for more than a decade. | |
| If the Trump administration’s action makes European banks fearful of lending billions to Iran to build new refineries, or expand other economic ties with the West, it may fuel opposition to the deal inside Iran, where it has been heavily criticized for failing to revive the Iranian economy. |