Trump to Rescind Iran Nuclear Deal?
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
On Wednesday, NBC News reported he’s “leaning toward decertifying the Iran nuclear deal and putting the decision of whether the United States withdraw from the accord in the hands of Congress, according to four sources – including a senior administration official – familiar with the White House deliberations.”
Congress near-unanimously remains hostile toward Iran, especially bipartisan neocons. Giving its members the option of abrogating an international treaty is deplorable administration policy, if true.
Neither Congress or Trump may legally rescind or undermine America’s treaty obligations. NBC’s report indicates how he apparently intends doing it, defying the international community, making the nation more of a pariah state than already.
Acting before the October 15 deadline for recertification, automatically “trigger(s) a 60-day window for lawmakers to determine whether to reimpose sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program that were lifted as part of the 2015 agreement,” said NBC.
Trump apparently intends using this window to try bullying Britain, France and Germany (the other Western P5+1 countries) to support his scheme – to renegotiate the nuclear deal, what they and Iran call unacceptable.
On Wednesday, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said “(w)e all agreed on the fact that there is no (Iranian) violation, that the nuclear program-related aspects, which is all the agreement, are being fulfilled.”
“(T)here is no need to renegotiate parts of the agreement.” Monitoring Iran’s compliance is solely the responsibility of the IAEA, multiple times confirming its strict observance of its terms.
NBC cautioned that Trump might change what he apparently decided before the October 15 deadline.
Commenting on Wednesday, he said he “decided” on a plan of action, resolved not to continue the “status quo,” yet still is considering another possible option.
Citing two unnamed US officials, NBC said it’s giving “European allies 90 days to get on board with renegotiation – rather than punt the decision to Congress. Administration officials are still in talks with those allies and with Republicans on Capitol Hill.”
Mogherini appeared to leave wiggle room by saying there’s “no need to renegotiate parts of the agreement,” instead of saying all other P5+1 countries firmly reject the idea.
Iran insists it won’t renegotiate what took many months of intensive talks to agree on. President Rouhani said “no one will trust America” again if Trump rescinds or otherwise undermines the agreement.
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