Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday that the State Department is working to deliver on President Donald Trump’s promise to “fix” the Iran nuclear deal.
“The president said he is either going to fix it or cancel it. We are in the process of trying to deliver on the promise he made to fix it,” Tillerson told the Associated Press.
The next periodic recertification of the nuclear deal is due on January 12. When the previous 90-day review came due in October, President Trump refused to certify Iranian compliance but did not kill the nuclear deal, effectively passing the ball to Congress.
Critics of the nuclear deal were simultaneously surprised by Trump’s tough stance and displeased that he did not completely terminate the deal worked out by President Barack Obama. During the campaign, Trump called the Iran deal an “embarrassment” and “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”
The White House said in October that it would work with Congress to strengthen the nuclear deal. On Friday, Tillerson indicated the administration is talking with congressional leaders “on a very active basis” about ways to improve the arrangement.
“I don’t want to suggest we’re across the finish line on anything yet,” Tillerson cautioned. “I think that’s why the president has not made a final decision either. If it’s not the twelfth but if we’re just talking about it’s imminent within some short period of time, we’ll see. But it will be the president’s decision to make.” READ MORE
