White House staffers say the president will decertify the 2015 seven-party agreement, introducing uncertainty and worrying arms control watchers
By Patrick Tucker; DefenseOne:
The Trump Administration rolled out a new Iran strategy today, aiming to set up new negotiations to strengthen parts of the 2015 deal that put a hold on Iranian nuclear-weapons development. Among its long-expected tenets: declining to certify Tehran’s compliance with the deal, which will undermine it to considerable degree without exactly setting it on fire.
One prominent arms control inspector acknowledges that the deal could be improved, but he joins others who say that leaving it — or even signaling a willingness to do so — may prompt Iran to restart its nuclear-weapons efforts. The question is: by decertifying, the U.S. taking an unnecessary risk?
The Trump administration, and other critics of the deal, have long argued it merely postpones, to 2030, Iran’s production of a nuclear weapon. And they note that the agreement doesn’t address Tehran’s other undesired behaviors, such as supporting Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, developing ballistic missiles, etc.
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