Trump Decertifies Iran Nuclear Deal
On Friday, President Trump once again brought up his threats to pull the United States out of the Iran Nuclear Deal if the deal was not amended. While he did condemn the deal, he did not undo the agreement and instead turned it over to Congress to make a decision.
The Iran nuclear deal was a key foreign policy achievement by the Obama Administration, and serves to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear bombs. Under the deal, Iran shut down a uranium plant and has agreed to convert it to a scientific research station instead. Iran also stopped producing weapons-grade plutonium, is transporting the reactor’s fuel out of the country, and will not build any heavy water reactors for 15 years. In order to ensure that Iran does not violate the agreement, inspections are to be much more intrusive, and Iran agreed to provide more information on their nuclear programs.
Trump has spoken out about the deal, saying “the United States had been taken advantage of in negotiations the Obama administration conducted.” He has also decertified the policy because he claims Iran violated the deal. To maintain the agreement, the President must certify it every 90 days, and he has certified it twice already.
While Congress is working on legislation, it is unclear if it will actually pass. The New York times reported, “enacting new legislation on Iran would require 60 votes in the Senate, meaning Republicans would need to pick up the support of at least eight Democrats.” Trump’s administration promised a “bold new initiative”, though they offered little in the way of information. According to ABC, “Lawmakers now have 60 days to snap back sanctions on Iran that had been suspended, keep the status quo or, as the Trump administration has suggested, amend or replace the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act.” However, the New York times noted that “Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, said his country would consider ‘no amendment whatsoever’ to the deal.”
This deal is one of many the President has criticized or tried to pull out of, including the Paris climate accords and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The administration is urging other nations to fix what Trump deemed “fatal flaws”. Despite Trump’s vocal criticisms of the agreement, other nations say they will not change the it, as it is working well for them. Britain, Germany, and France have told the United States to support the deal.