Trump planned to focus on the agreement between Iran and world powers during a meeting Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations annual General Assembly session, U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters in advance.
According to Bloomberg, Trump faces an Oct. 15 deadline to inform Congress whether the U.S. will continue to certify Iran’s compliance with the international accord. Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has said he may decide against certification even though the International Atomic Energy Agency has said Iran is meeting its responsibilities to curb its nuclear program. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said Iran is “clearly in default” of the accord’s preamble calling for progress toward regional peace and stability.
In a photo session with reporters at the start of their meeting, Netanyahu sat beside Trump and said the two would discuss how “we can address together what you rightly call the terrible nuclear deal with Iran and how to roll back Iran’s growing aggression in the region, especially in Syria.” The Israeli leader has called for the agreement to be canceled or modified.
Trump, asked by reporters if he would pull out of the accord, responded, “You’ll see very soon.”
Trump has called the 2015 agreement one of the worst deals the U.S. has ever participated in but so far has certified that Iran is complying with its terms. He’s said he is considering withdrawing from the agreement between Iran and the U.S., China, France, Germany, Russia and U.K. And he has continued to criticize Iran’s conduct in the region.
“We are not going to stand for what they’re doing to this country,’’ Trump told reporters last week on Air Force One. “They have violated so many different elements, but they’ve also violated the spirit of that deal. And you will see what we’ll be doing in October. It will be very evident.’’
The U.S. stance has worried allies such as France as well as Russia.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that tearing up the accord would be a blow to efforts to limit nuclear proliferation and “we’re trying to convince President Trump of the pertinence of this view.” All the signs are that Iran is respecting its obligations under the deal, he said at a press conference in New York.