IRAN DEAL SURVIVES: President Trump Keeps Iran Nuke Deal…For Now

However, time after time, President Trump has (perhaps reluctantly) certified that Iran was cooperating with the deal.

But he said he would work with European allies to remove so-called “sunset clauses” that allowed Iran to gradually resume advanced nuclear activities in the next decade.

But he also made clear these waivers will be the last, unless what he calls serious flaws in the agreement are addressed by the spring.

Whether the USA and European partners will be able to agree on a supplemental deal by May that strengthens the nuclear agreement is far from clear. Other sanctions target suppliers of Iran’s military and Iran’s cybersecurity sector, which the administration officials said plays a central role in censorship in Iran.

The officials spoke Friday in a conference call for journalists on the condition they not be named.

The US has taken a tough line on the recent demonstrations in Iran, condemning the Iranian regime and voicing support for the protestors.

The White House is expected to announce the decision on Friday.

The waiver he will sign suspends United States sanctions on Iran for another 120 days.The White House wants European Union signatories to agree permanent restrictions on Iran’s uranium enrichment.

European powers have urged the United States not to walk away from the pact which was negotiated by the U.S. and several European powers. Their advice is opposed by some Republican lawmakers.

European countries including France and Italy have benefited from renewed trade with Iran, whose proven natural gas reserves are as vast as Russia’s, while Britain reopened its embassy in Tehran following the deal.

They will also urge Iran to continue to comply with global inspectors, the diplomats said. One official said the actions “will send a very strong message that the United States is not going to tolerate their continued abuses”.

That balance is aimed at satisfying Trump’s demand to raise pressure on Iran, while not embarking on a frontal assault on the most central trade-offs of the nuclear agreement.

It said it would also like Congress to amend the legislation that gives lawmakers the authority to slap sanctions on Iran if it decides Tehran is in violation of the nuclear agreement, outlining “trigger points” instead that set off automatic sanctions.

Echoing Mogherini, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said: “There is no particular reason to disengage in any way from this agreement as Iran has been respecting the provisions of the deal”. He didn’t want to do it three months ago or past year either.

The 2015 Iran nuclear deal was struck between the U.S., under the administration of former President Barack Obama, Iran and five other countries. The U.S. and Iran also agreed to their own terms, along with terms penned with other nations.