U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the 72nd United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 19, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)
President Donald Trump intends to “decertify” the Iran nuclear deal in an announcement next week. The Washington Post first reported the White House has decided it is not in the national interest of the United States (US).
PPD has learned he will put the issue and the future of any deal to the U.S. Congress as he works to negotiate a better deal. The Trump Administration faces an October 15 deadline to report to lawmakers on whether the regime in Tehran is complying with the agreement or not and if it is in the nation’s interest.
In his first address to the more than 150 international delegations at the UN General Assembly in September, President Trump called the Iran nuclear deal one of the “worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever done.”
“Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States,” the President said, indicating he would soon reverse his affirmation of the deal if progress was not made.
In the past few weeks, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May have expressed support of the Trump Administration’s willingness to force players back to the table. President Trump’s plan will result in the resumption of U.S. sanctions against Iran, which would not only end the 2015 deal but also reimplement the economic pain that brought the regime to the table in the first place.
The President intends to deliver a speech on October 12 to make the case for a more comprehensive strategy for containing the government he said masks a “corrupt dictatorship” that uses oil profits to fund Hezbollah and other terrorists.
“We cannot let a murderous regime continue these destabilizing activities and abide by an agreement if it provides for an eventual nuclear program,” President Trump told the UN.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the speech as the most “bold” and “courageous” speech he’s ever heard at the annual gathering of world leaders and diplomats.
“I’ve been ambassador to the United Nations, and I’m a long-serving Israeli prime minister, so I’ve listened to countless speeches in this hall,” Netanyahu said during his own address before the United Nations General Assembly. “But I can say this — none were bolder, none were more courageous and forthright than the one delivered by President Trump today.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., both support the President’s “fix it or nix it” approach, one which brings Congress into the fold to strengthen the arrangement. Decertifying the deal would lead to a 60-day congressional review period, which taken alone would not break the agreement between the U.S., Iran and other world powers.
However, it starts a clock to resume sanctions that the U.S. had lifted prior to and as part of the Iran nuclear deal.
