Iran on Notice

Published April 21, 2017 6:30am ET



Last week the Trump administration sent a letter to House speaker Paul Ryan to certify that the Islamic Republic of Iran is in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly referred to as the Iran nuclear deal. On the campaign trail, Donald Trump had called it the “worst deal ever negotiated” and promised it wouldn’t stand if he made it to the White House. What gives?

Trump supporters and others who opposed Barack Obama’s signature foreign policy initiative are now wondering: Was the president just bluffing? Did he plan all along to leave the deal in place and take his chances that Iran wouldn’t go nuclear on his watch? As usual, Washington is abuzz that the administration is split into rival camps—one that wants to go hard on the Iranians and another that wants to take it easy on the leading state sponsor of terror.

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