The U.S. will not certify the Iran nuclear deal, President Donald Trump announced Friday afternoon, and it is now up to Congress to address the deal’s “serious flaws” in order to protect the American people from any threats of nuclear weapons.
Iran (Twitter)
“We cannot and will not make this certification. We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the breakout of Iran’s nuclear program,” Trump said Friday.
Trump said if Congress can’t reach a solution, then the Iran nuclear agreement would be “terminated.”
Iran (Twitter)
“It’s under continuous review,” Trump said, of the deal. “Our participation can be cancelled by me, the President, at any time. We are determined that the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism will not obtain nuclear weapons.” This would include any potential intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the President stressed, adding that with Congress at the wheel, the goal is to make “all restrictions on Iran’s nuclear deal permanent under United States law.”
Iran (Twitter)
The President has called the deal “one of the worst” and “the most one-sided transaction the United States has ever entered into,” and he reiterated his sentiments on Friday.
His number one goal is always to protect the American people, Trump explained, which is why he ordered a review of the Iranian landmark policy that was forged in 2015 under his predecessor, Barack Obama.
Trump said the “rogue regime” of Iran is only perpetuating terrorism around the world, and is becoming more aggressive in doing so.
Iran (Twitter)
The hostile Iranian regime has not lived up to “the spirit of deal,” which Trump called “deeply controversial.”
“The Iranian dictatorship […] remains the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism,” the President said, saying the regime provides assistance to al-Qaida, the Taliban, Hezbollah, Hamas and other terrorists.
As for the 2015 deal, Trump said: “We got weak inspections in exchange for no more than a purely short-term, temporary delay for Iran on its path toward nuclear weapons.”
“The Iran deal was supposed to contribute to regional and international peace and security. And yet, while the United States adheres to our commitment under the deal, the Iranian regime continues to fuel conflict, terror and turmoil throughout the Middle East and beyond,” the President said.
Additionally, along with pushing the deal back to Congress, the President said he has authorized the U.S. Treasury to impose sanctions on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which he called a “corrupt personal terror force.”
IRGC (Twitter)
Trump said the Treasury is authorized to sanction the IRGC for its support of terrorism.
The IRGC is Iran’s strongest military force that was founded after the Iranian revolution in 1979. While Iran’s regular military, the Iranian Army or the Artesh, exists to defend the nation’s borders from outside enemies, the IRGC exists specifically to counter domestic affairs in order to protect the country’s radical Islamic system. They are the defense against military coups or “deviant movements” against the government.
Trump says they are supporting terrorism.
During his speech last month at the United Nations General Assembly, Trump accused Iran of funding terrorists and creating a dangerous missile arsenal. The Iranian President later came out and said flatly that Iran wants to strengthen its missile capabilities – and doesn’t intend to ask permission to do it.
The Iranian nuclear deal was drawn up in 2015 with Iran, the U.S. and five other nations. Its framework includes stipulations that Iran would redesign, convert and reduce its number of nuclear facilities in order to lift nuclear-related economical sanctions, which would reportedly free up billions of dollars in oil revenue and frozen assets for Iran. The U.S. and Iran also agreed to their own terms, along with terms penned with other nations.
