President Donald Trump put his own stamp on a Department of State letter to Congress about the Iran nuclear deal, ordering a more hawkish rewrite of the first draft written by career diplomats and Obama administration holdovers.
Trump personally intervened because he thought the original version was too accommodating and ignored the Islamic Republic’s sponsorship of terrorist groups, White House officials told the Wall Street Journal.
The letter, sent April 18 by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to House Speaker Paul Ryan, announced an inter-agency review to determine if the U.S. should continue easing sanctions against Iran. (RELATED: Tillerson Says Iran Sponsors Terrorism, Starts Review Of Nuclear Deal)
“Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror, through many platforms and methods,” Tillerson wrote. “President Donald J. Trump has directed a National Security Council-led inter-agency review of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that will evaluate whether suspension of sanctions related to Iran pursuant to the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] is vital to the national security interests of the United States.”
Career diplomats and Obama political appointees wrote the initial version of the letter, White House sources told the WSJ. The key State Department contributors included Stephen Mull, a career foreign service officer and the U.S. coordinator for JCPOA implementation, and Chris Backemeyer, who worked at the Obama White House before his appointment as deputy assistant secretary of state for Iranian affairs.
National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster wanted the first draft to have tougher language and asked Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to bring the matter to Trump’s attention, White House officials said. The president reviewed the letter and settled on a version that emphasized Iran’s role in supporting international terrorism and called for a re-evaluation of sanctions policy.
Trump also ordered Tillerson to publicly announce the policy shift, which he did the following day at a press conference.
The U.S., Iran and other major powers signed the JCPOA in 2016. The agreement restricts Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from international energy and financial sanctions.
Trump’s national security team has urged a firmer hand with Tehran and made renegotiation of the JCPOA a potential option for containing Iranian ambitions in the Middle East.
Trump has made no secret of his disdain for the agreement, calling it “the worst deal ever negotiated” during the campaign.
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