Were You Surprised to Learn that President Trump Recently 'Ratified' the Iran Deal? This Sheds a Little Light on Why He (Temporarily) Gave It a Pass

Dale Hurd : Jul 19, 2017
CBN News

It is highly unlikely Trump will agree to certify the deal again when it comes up for review in a few months, according to White House officials.

[CBN News] One of President Trump's campaign pledges was that he would renegotiate or dismantle President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran. He had that chance this week, but passed. Why? (Photo: via CBN News)

Trump was reportedly eager to declare Iran in breach of the nuclear deal but was talked out of it by top cabinet members and national security aides who rushed to the Oval Office to persuade him as a midnight deadline approached.

CBN News Chief Political Correspondent David Brody says, "A lot of folks think that Trump is just going to do what Trump wants to do. But in this case, Trump didn't do what he wants to do. He wants to get out of the deal and he didn't do it because he did listen to the generals on the ground, in this case the generals in the Oval Office."

Trump agreed Monday night to let the issue go, but only until the deal comes up for review again in three months, and only after last-minute changes that would distance him from the deal.

President Obama once famously boasted that his agreement in 2015 to lift sanctions on Iran was "the strongest nonproliferation deal ever negotiated." He called it "a good deal, a deal that meets our core objectives. This framework would cutoff every pathway that Iran could take to develop a nuclear weapon."

But conservative critics, including President Trump and members of his team, have repeatedly said it's a bad deal, and that it opens the door for Iran to build nuclear weapons, just as another country already has.

During his confirmation hearings, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told senators, "An unchecked Iran has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea and take the world along with it."

But the White House has decided to let the deal continue for now without technically confirming that Iran is complying with it. And it slapped new, non-nuclear sanctions on Iranians Tuesday to show Trump is indeed serious about confronting Tehran.

It is highly unlikely Trump will agree to certify the deal again when it comes up for review in a few months, according to White House officials.

And some think Trump's broader review on Iran, expected to conclude in the next few weeks, will mark a major shift in relations, and a massive increase in U.S. pressure on the Islamic Republic.