NEW YORK – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reinforced President Trump’s criticism of the Iran nuclear deal late Wednesday, telling reporters the U.S. has “significant issues” with the 2015 agreement. His comments came on the heels of a meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and partners on the deal.
“We had a very open and candid exchange with all of the parties to the agreement,” Tillerson said during a press conference in New York. “We clearly have significant issues with the agreement.”
Tillerson confirmed that Trump has reached a decision on recertifying Iran’s compliance with the agreement, though, like the president, he declined to disclose the details of it. He noted that Trump’s chief concern is a provision known as the “sunset clause” that removes certain restrictions on Iran within 10 to 15 years, potentially allowing the country to resume the production of nuclear weapons.
“I think that we’ve had sufficient time to get our own kind of understanding of this agreement and how it functioned,” Tillerson said, adding that “the time has come for a decision to be made and it is the president that has to make that decision.”
The secretary of state’s meeting with partners on the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, came a day after Trump blasted the agreement during a high-profile speech to the 193-member U.N. General Assembly. The president cast the deal as “one-sided,” claiming it has been a major source of “embarrassment to the United States.”
Tillerson briefed the media hours after French President Emmanuel Macron said the Obama-era deal is “no longer a sufficient safeguard against the growing power that Tehran welds in its region.” Signaling his agreement, Tillerson said the world has “seen anything but a more peaceful region” in the two years since the deal was brokered.
Still, several U.S. allies, including France, have cautioned Trump not to pull out of the agreement.
“There is no need to renegotiate parts of the agreement because the agreement is concerning a nuclear program and as such is delivering,” Mogherini told reporters after the meeting with Tillerson and the other powers involved.
British Prime Minister Theresa may said earlier Wednesday that the JCPOA is “a very important agreement, and we are determined to continue implementing it.”
