Trump risks fallout from Iran deal assault
US President Donald Trump, in seeking options to exit the Iran nuclear deal, may jeopardize his administration’s goal of containing Iran’s other troubling behaviors.
WASHINGTON — After twice certifying that Iran is complying with the nuclear deal, President Donald Trump has now asked top aides to provide him with options to exit the agreement. If he leaves under manufactured pretexts, however, the president risks isolating the United States while jeopardizing his administration’s goal of containing Iran’s other troubling behaviors, former administration officials, allied diplomats and some administration allies warn.
What’s more, Trump has articulated no alternative strategy for containing Iran’s nuclear program should the agreement collapse. That raises the prospect that the president could generate a new nuclear crisis even as his administration faces the prospect that North Korea may be able to reach the United States with a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile within the next year, according to a new Defense Intelligence Agency assessment.
Trump telegraphed his frustration over being urged by his Cabinet chiefs to certify Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal at a White House meeting last Monday. He told The Wall Street Journal that he thinks Iran will be deemed to have breached the accord by the time of the next congressionally mandated certification deadline in the fall.
“We’ve been extremely nice to them in saying they were compliant, OK? We’ve given them the benefit of every doubt,” Trump told The Wall Street Journal in a July 25 interview. “But we’re doing very detailed studies. And personally, I have great respect for my people. If it was up to me, I would have had them noncompliant 180 days ago.”
