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Trump Decertifies Iran Deal, Charting New Path In Middle East

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President Trump decertifies the Iran nuclear deal. What now? We’ll dive in.

President Donald Trump announces new Iran strategy on October 13, 2017. (Susan Walsh/AP)
President Donald Trump announces new Iran strategy on October 13, 2017. (Susan Walsh/AP)

On Friday, President Trump came out swinging, rhetorically, on the Iran nuclear deal. Said he won’t certify Iran’s complying, even though everybody basically says they are. Said it’s terrible. Said Congress needs to fix it. Said he could still pull the US out. Now what? European allies are not buying what Trump’s selling. His own administration is divided. Critics say he’s risking war. This hour, On Point: Beyond North Korea. President Trump goes after Iran. -- Tom Ashbrook.

Guests:

Robin Wright, contributing writer for the New Yorker and joint fellow at the Wilson Center and the U.S. Institute of Peace. (@wrightr)

Mark Dubowitz, CEO, foundation for Defense of Democracies. (@mdubowitz)

Trita Parsi, founder and president, National Iranian American Council. (@tparsi)

From Tom's Reading List:

CNN, via Trita Parsi: The Real Risk In Trump's Iran Gambit — "Much energy was spent on preventing Iran either cheating or withdrawing from the deal. However, far less energy was put into insulating the deal from a TV reality star turned President whose agenda appears to consist largely of trying to undo the achievements of his predecessor."

USA Today, via Mark Dubowitz: Decertify, Pressure And Fix — "Decertifying the deal does not mean breaking the deal, nor does it require reimposing the original nuclear sanctions. President Trump plans to roll out a comprehensive strategy to roll back Iranian aggression and to fix the deal. Lawmakers should be patient and hold off, for now, on any effort to re-implement original sanctions or take America out of the deal."
New Yorker: Trump Defies The World On Iran — "The unveiling of the Trump Administration’s long-awaited Iran policy—after nine months of contentious internal debate—is somewhat of a compromise. The President did not formally pull out of the deal, despite his description of it, on Friday, as “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.” But he is now refusing to certify—as required every ninety days by U.S. law—that Iran has fully complied, even though his own Administration acknowledges that Tehran has met all its obligations for two years."

This program aired on October 16, 2017.

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