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| Iran is complying with nuclear deal but is 'in default of its spirit', says US | Iran is complying with nuclear deal but is 'in default of its spirit', says US |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| The Trump administration has told Congress for a second time that Iran is complying with the nuclear deal and can keep enjoying sanctions relief, even as it insisted late on Monday that Tehran would face consequences for breaching “the spirit” of the deal. | |
| President Trump, who lambasted the 2015 pact as a candidate, has given himself more time to decide whether to dismantle the deal or let it stand. But senior White House officials sought to emphasise their deep concerns about Iran’s non-nuclear behaviour, saying transgressions would not go unpunished. | |
| In a shift from Trump’s previous threat to “rip up” the deal, officials said the US was working with allies to try to fix the deal’s flaws, including the expiration of some nuclear restrictions after a decade or more. The officials also said the US would impose new sanctions penalising Tehran for developing ballistic missiles and other activity. | |
| Trump, secretary of state Rex Tillerson and “the entire administration judge that Iran is unquestionably in default of the spirit” of the agreement, one official said. That assessment carries no legal force; Trump’s certification that Iran is technically complying clears the way for sanctions to remain lifted. | |
| Monday’s late-night announcement capped a day of frenzied, last-minute decision-making by the president, exposing deep and lingering divisions within his administration about how to deal with a top national security issue. | |
| Trump’s team of national security advisers, including Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis, recommended he preserve the deal for now in a meeting last Wednesday, according to the New York Times. An anonymous official told the Times Trump spent 55 minutes of the meeting saying he did not want to certify Iran’s compliance. On Monday, a planned press briefing was cancelled at short notice as internal White House arguments continued. | |
| Since early last week, Trump’s administration had been prepared to make the certification, a quarterly requirement. Trump first told Congress in April that Iran was indeed complying. With no final decision on his broader Iran policy, the White House had planned to let the status quo stand for another three months. | Since early last week, Trump’s administration had been prepared to make the certification, a quarterly requirement. Trump first told Congress in April that Iran was indeed complying. With no final decision on his broader Iran policy, the White House had planned to let the status quo stand for another three months. |
| Iran will continue receiving the same sanctions relief that it did under former President Barack Obama. | Iran will continue receiving the same sanctions relief that it did under former President Barack Obama. |
| In April, when Trump made his first certification, he paired it with new sanctions for non-nuclear behaviour to show there was no softening of his stance toward the Islamic Republic. Earlier on Monday, the White House had told outside experts it would repeat that playbook by punishing more than a dozen Iranian individuals, organisations and procurement networks involved in ballistic missiles and other nefarious behaviour. | |
| But the day came and went with no such announcement, although officials said they expected more sanctions would eventually be coming. It was unclear why the administration held off or for how long, but typically the treasury department prefers to issue new sanctions during business hours. | But the day came and went with no such announcement, although officials said they expected more sanctions would eventually be coming. It was unclear why the administration held off or for how long, but typically the treasury department prefers to issue new sanctions during business hours. |
| “We receive contradictory signals,” Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Monday at the Council on Foreign Relations, before the decision was announced. “So we don’t know which one to interpret in what way.” | |
| We receive contradictory signal so we don’t know which one to interpret in what way | We receive contradictory signal so we don’t know which one to interpret in what way |
| For Trump, a vocal critic of the deal, the obligation to report to Congress on Iran’s conformity has created an unwelcome, tri-monthly headache. Still undecided about whether to withdraw from the deal, Trump must either vouch for Tehran’s compliance or try to claim Iran is breaching it — even though the International Atomic Energy Agency that monitors the deal says it is not. | For Trump, a vocal critic of the deal, the obligation to report to Congress on Iran’s conformity has created an unwelcome, tri-monthly headache. Still undecided about whether to withdraw from the deal, Trump must either vouch for Tehran’s compliance or try to claim Iran is breaching it — even though the International Atomic Energy Agency that monitors the deal says it is not. |
| In its condemnation of Iran, senior officials emphasised several longstanding US concerns about Iran’s ballistic missile programs, human rights abuses and support for terrorism in the region. They also criticised Iran for detaining US citizens and limiting freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf. | In its condemnation of Iran, senior officials emphasised several longstanding US concerns about Iran’s ballistic missile programs, human rights abuses and support for terrorism in the region. They also criticised Iran for detaining US citizens and limiting freedom of navigation in the Persian Gulf. |
| Under the deal struck by Obama and other world leaders, Iran agreed to roll back its nuclear program — long suspected of being aimed at developing atomic weapons — in return for billions of dollars in sanctions relief. The deal does not address global concerns about Iran’s non-nuclear activities, but also doesn’t prevent the US and others from punishing Iran for those activities. Iran remains on the state department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism for its support of anti-Israel groups. | Under the deal struck by Obama and other world leaders, Iran agreed to roll back its nuclear program — long suspected of being aimed at developing atomic weapons — in return for billions of dollars in sanctions relief. The deal does not address global concerns about Iran’s non-nuclear activities, but also doesn’t prevent the US and others from punishing Iran for those activities. Iran remains on the state department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism for its support of anti-Israel groups. |
| Scuttling the deal would put further distance between Trump and foreign leaders who are already upset over his move to withdraw from the Paris global climate change accord. Other powers that brokered the nuclear deal along with the US have said there’s no appetite for renegotiating it. | Scuttling the deal would put further distance between Trump and foreign leaders who are already upset over his move to withdraw from the Paris global climate change accord. Other powers that brokered the nuclear deal along with the US have said there’s no appetite for renegotiating it. |