President Trump Refuses To Certify Iran Nuclear Deal: Signatories Prepare For Renegotiation Of Terms

By Brittany Dierken

Barack Obama’s single most important foreign policy achievement is now being ripped apart by President Donald Trump.

President Trump threatens to pull the U.S. out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (referred to as the Iran nuclear deal) by stating that this nuclear deal is “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the U.S. has ever entered into.” In a speech on Friday, President Trump accused Iran for violating the terms of the deal by sponsoring terrorism and proposed new sanctions.

The Iran nuclear deal was signed in 2015 between the UK, the U.S., Russia, France, Germany, and China that imposed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for loosening international sanctions, such as trading in international markets and selling oil. The restrictions include limiting Iran’s uranium stockpile, allowing inspectors into the country, and demanding that Iran cannot build any more heavy-water reactors for 15 years.

Every 90 days, Congress requires the President to certify that Iran is in compliance with the agreement, but President Trump has refused to sign. This has put Congress in a difficult situation, as now it has to make a decision within 60 days whether to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal altogether and impose harsher sanctions or work together with the other signatories to amend and renegotiate the terms of the pact.

British officials said that President Trump’s actions can weaken Western credibility, because it sends a signal that when countries make deals with the U.S. they fear that the President will just turn around and change the terms a few years later. President Trump’s actions could impact the international sphere as a whole.

If the U.S. were to pull out of the deal altogether, then many sanctions would be lifted and could cause many problems. The world market would change dramatically as EU restrictions on Iranian trade, shipping, and insurance would be lifted, Iranian individuals who were blacklisted for nuclear-related activities could do business with the EU, and sanctions imposed on Iran’s nuclear program by the UN Security Council resolutions would be annulled.

The deadline to sign the Iranian nuclear deal is Oct. 15. It is in Congress’ hands now as President Trump refused to sign.

References

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Mark Landler & David E. Sanger, Trump Disavows Nuclear Deal, but Doesn’t Scrap It, Tʜᴇ Nᴇᴡ Yᴏʀᴋ Tɪᴍᴇꜱ (Oct. 13, 2017), available at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/13/us/politics/trump-iran-nuclear-deal.html (last visited Oct. 15, 2017).

Eli Watkins, Tillerson: US trying to stay in Iran deal (Oct. 15, 2017), CNN Pᴏʟɪᴛɪᴄꜱ, available at http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/15/politics/rex-tillerson-iran-nuclear-agreement-cnntv/index.html (last visited Oct. 15, 2017).

Matthew Lee, Trump threatens to pull U.S. out of Iran nuclear deal if Congress doesn’t heed his call to toughen the accord, Cʜɪᴄᴀɢᴏ Tʀɪʙᴜɴᴇ (Oct. 13, 2017), available at http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-iran-nuclear-deal-20171013-story.html (last visited Oct 15, 2017).

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