Defense

Trump’s About To Put The Fate Of The Iran Deal In Congress’s Hands

REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

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Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
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President Donald Trump will decertify Iranian compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal to Congress during an Oct. 12 speech, multiple outlets report.

Decertification of the deal would trigger a two-month review period by Congress and a possible effort by the Trump administration to convince other parties in the nuclear agreement to try and impose further restrictions on Iran.

“During that time, Congress could take the opportunity to debate Iran’s support for terrorism, its past nuclear activity, and its massive human rights violations, all of which are called for in Corker-Cardin. Congress could debate whether the nuclear deal is in fact too big to fail,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said of congressional review, in a speech previewing the administration’s Iran move.

Trump is required to certify Iranian compliance with the deal to Congress every 90 days under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015. The Obama administration restricted its view of compliance to the regime’s technical compliance with the deal, but the Trump administration has taken a different view.

The main objection of the Trump administration is to the deal’s “sunset clause” — the lack of mechanism to deal with Iran’s ballistic missile testing — and its support of violent terrorist organizations across the Middle East. The sunset clause is the eclipse of restrictions on Iran’s nuclear agreements in the 10-15 year period, which would allow it to develop nuclear weapons without any international penalties.

“This deal only makes sense if you assume, contrary to all experience, that Iran will evolve into a lawful, peaceful, law-abiding regime in 10 years,” Republican Sen. Tom Cotton declared in a recent speech to the Council On Foreign Relations.

Cotton previewed areas that he would demand review of during the decertification period if Congress were to not re-impose sanctions. These areas include elimination of the nuclear deals sunset clauses, a hardened inspections regime by the U.N., and actual restrictions on the regime’s ballistic missile program.

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