Secretary of State Rex Tillerson added his voice Thursday to Trump administration skepticism of the nuclear disarmament deal with Iran, …
Here’s our look at the Trump administration and the rest of Washington:
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson added his voice Thursday to Trump administration skepticism of the nuclear disarmament deal with Iran, a month ahead of a congressional deadline for the White House to certify Tehran’s compliance.
The administration separately extended waivers on economic sanctions against Iran, in keeping with another deadline. That means key sanctions that were lifted in exchange for Iran’s agreement to give up its nuclear program remain suspended.
Iran has met its obligations so far under the 2015 accord, according to the latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations watchdog agency assigned to monitor the deal.
But the White House has hinted strongly that President Trump won’t certify to Congress next month that Iran is in compliance, as a U. S. law requires.
It’s not entirely clear what would happen at that point, and whether the U. S. would seek to withdraw from the accord. Doing so could allow Tehran to restart its nuclear development, which was blocked by the deal.
Trump reiterated his opposition to the Obama-era deal Thursday aboard Air Force One after he had toured hurricane damage in Florida.
“The Iran deal is one of the worst deals I’ve ever seen, ” Trump told reporters. “We are not going to stand for what they’re doing to this country. They have violated so many different elements, but they’ ve also violated the spirit of that deal.
