“We cannot and will not make this certification,” Trump said of the Iran nuclear deal. “We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Iran’s nuclear breakout.”
President Donald Trump announced in a keynote speech on Friday that his administration would not recertify the Iranian nuclear accord and outlined a tougher strategy toward Tehran.
“We cannot and will not make this certification,” Trump said. “We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence, more terror and the very real threat of Iran’s nuclear breakout,” he added.
Trump explained that, following a review by his administration, the decision was taken to announce “major steps” to ensure “Iran never — and I mean never — acquires a nuclear weapon.”
The president added that “In just a few years, as key restrictions disappear, Iran can sprint towards nuclear weapons breakout.”
He asked: “What is the purpose of a deal that, at best, only delays” Iranian nuclear ambitions.
Decertification does not automatically dismantle the accord. It requires Congress to start a 60-day review period to decide whether to re-impose sanctions that were in place before the deal was implemented.
According to Trump, Iran is “under the control of a fanatical regime” that has “spread death, destruction and chaos all around the globe.” He warned that “history has shown that the longer we ignore a threat the more dangerous that threat becomes.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump “for his courageous decision” to confront “Iran’s terrorist regime” in a video message.
“If the Iran deal is left unchanged, one thing is absolutely certain: in a few years time, the world’s foremost terrorist regime will have an arsenal of nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said.
Trump further announced in his speech a plan for “tough sanctions” on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for supporting terrorism.
The IRGC is directly involved in the occupation of four countries: Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. The new measures will include designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization in its entirety, as well as addressing the Islamic Republic’s ongoing development and testing of ballistic missiles.
By: The Tower