Smoky Mountain Journal -President Trump To "Decertify" 2015 Iran Deal Kicking Decision On Whether To Restore Sanctions Back To Congress




The Great Smoky Mountain Journal Staff, Wire Reports Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 06:33 PM

President Trump To "Decertify" 2015 Iran Deal Kicking Decision On Whether To Restore Sanctions Back To Congress
President Trump is announcing plans Friday to decertify the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, saying it is no longer in the United States’ national security interest -- while kicking a decision over whether to restore sanctions back to Congress. “It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Iran’s government end its pursuit of death and destruction,” Trump said in a statement released by the White House. He plans to deliver an address on Iran policy Friday afternoon. Friday's announcement, though, does not withdraw the United States from the Iran deal, something the president has called “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.” Speaking to reporters ahead of Trump’s speech, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the president will use the Congressional Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act to decertify the agreement, which was negotiated over 18 months by the Obama administration. Congress could then decide to restore sanctions, do nothing or make changes to the law. Tillerson said the president will press Congress to amend the act to put into place provisions that would trigger sanctions if certain lines are crossed. Trump is also taking action against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, authorizing the Treasury Department to impose targeted sanctions against individuals within the IRGC, officials said. Trump had been facing a Sunday deadline to notify Congress whether Iran is complying with the accord. “Lawmakers need to do now what we couldn’t do two years ago: unite around an Iran strategy that truly stops Iran’s nuclear weapons program and empowers the United States and our allies to combat the full spectrum of Iran’s imperial aggression,” Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton said in a statement. Fox News’ Serafin Gomez and Mike Emanuel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.