Remember when candidate Donald Trump said he’d rip up the Iran nuclear deal? Well, that was campaign talk. Reality is a push against Iran, but nothing close to ending the Iran deal as promised. As Daily Signal’s Fred Lucas noted below, he wants to fix it, not nix it.
Here’s the biggest problem with the Iran deal. It’s already done as far as Iran is concerned. President Obama already gave them everything they wanted. There’s nothing we can do to take back the massive amounts of money they were given to support terrorism and work against American interests. That’s not to say we shouldn’t cancel the deal, but doing so wouldn’t do very much to harm Iran.
Even ABC’s Jonathan Karl calls it a “halfway-measure.”
Watch the video, then read these posts:
Perspectives
Trump Announces Push to Fix, Not Nix, Obama’s Iran Deal
Dealing with Iran’s nuclear ambitions is just one aspect of the broader United State’s policy toward Iran, said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, adding that the administration is also addressing the country’s material and financial support of terrorism, the ballistic missile program, hostility toward Israel, and efforts to destabilize the Middle East.
Trump’s New Direction on Iran
According to the White House, the highlights of the new plan involve tackling the threat of groups that support terrorism — with a particular emphasis on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — and shoring up alliances with regional players that share an interest in a “more stable balance of power in the region.” From an official White House release:
Trump designates Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group, calls for more sanctions
As Trump spoke from the White House, the Treasury Department announced it was designating the IRGC as a terrorist entity under a White House Executive Order. That announcement said the group provides “support to a number of terrorist groups, including Hizballah and Hamas, as well as to the Taliban.”
Analysis: With Iran Decision, Trump Punts on First Down
The president announced Friday afternoon, that he will not — after calling the Obama’s administration’s agreement “the worst” and “the stupidest” pact the United States ever brokered — remove the country he now leads from the seven-country framework. Instead, the next step in the delicate foreign policy dance lies in the hands of a House and Senate not exactly known for quick and decisive action.
