DONALD Trump has refused to recertify the nuclear deal between the US and Iran, saying Tehran is not living up to the “spirit” of the agreement it signed in 2015.
In a speech at the White House, the US president announced a new strategy, saying the administration would seek to counter the regime’s destabilising activities and would impose additional sanctions to block its financing of terrorism.
Trump said the new strategy would also seek to address the proliferation of Iran’s missiles, adding the US would deny its paths to develop nuclear weapons.
Trump said Iran had committed “multiple violations” and he “cannot and will not make this certification”.
The president said he was directing his administration to work closely with Congress to address the deal’s “many flaws” and to make sure the country can never threaten the US with nuclear weapons.
If Congress could not come up with new legislation, he said he would terminate the Obama-era pact.
Any decision to reimpose nuclear-related sanctions would automatically kill America’s participation in the deal.
Trump’s move is essentially a compromise that allows him to condemn the accord, but stop short of torpedoing it.
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