Another Flip? Trump Tells Congress Iran Compliant With "Disastrous" Nuclear Deal

Another Flip? Trump Tells Congress Iran Compliant With "Disastrous" Nuclear Deal

Zero Hedge - Wednesday April 19, 2017

by Tyler Durden

On the heels of an apparant avalanche of flip-flops on campaign comments, President Trump has notified Congress that Iran is complying with the "disastrous... worst deal ever negotiated" 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by former President Obama.

During his campaign, Trump raised the prospect the United States will pull out of the nuclear pact it signed last year with Iran, alienating Washington from its allies and potentially freeing Iran to act on its ambitions.

Trump called the nuclear pact a "disaster" and "the worst deal ever negotiated" during his campaign and said it could lead to a "nuclear holocaust."

 

In a speech to the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC in March, Trump declared that his “Number-One priority” would be to “dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran.”

All of which makes it fascinating to note that, as AP reports, the Trump administration has notified Congress that Iran is complying with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by former President Barack Obama, and says the U.S. has extended the sanctions relief given to the Islamic republic in exchange for curbs on its atomic program. The certification of Iran's compliance, which must be sent to Congress every 90 days, is the first issued by the Trump administration.

However, it appears there is movement towards Trump's campaign promises, as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said late Tuesday that the Trump administration is weighing whether to effectively break the terms of the Iran nuclear deal, while certifying that the Islamic nation is upholding terms of the landmark 2015 agreement. The administration is looking at whether to continue lifting sanctions the Obama administration agreed to under the nuclear deal negotiated by six world powers.

The review was ordered by President Donald Trump, Tillerson said in the letter. He called it an effort "to evaluate whether continuing to lift sanctions would be in U.S. national security interests."

Tillerson said in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan that "Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror through many platforms and methods."

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