Senior Republican senator expects Trump to uphold Iran deal
Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker says tearing up nuclear accord would lead to 'crisis'
An influential Republican senator said Friday he expected President-elect Donald Trump to respect and uphold the nuclear accord with Iran, warning that failing to do so would create “a crisis.”
Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said “to tear it up on the front end, in my opinion, is not going to happen,” according to Reuters.
Corker added that he expected Trump to merely seek strong enforcement of the existing deal with Tehran.
During his presidential campaign Trump promised to tear up the Iran nuclear agreement once in office, calling it the “worst deal ever negotiated.”
But following the election, a senior adviser to the president-elect said the new US leader would only “review” the agreement and possibly renegotiate it.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has said his country would not allow Trump to walk back the accord.
One man who would like to see Trump keep his campaign promise is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said in December he plans to work together with the incoming administration to roll back the accord, and that he will present Trump with five ideas for doing so.
A high-level commission that oversees the deal with world powers will meet in Vienna on January 10 to address a complaint by Tehran about the renewing of sanctions by the United States.
The meeting was called by the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who coordinates follow-up of the nuclear deal for its signatories — Iran, the US, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.
The officials will meet 10 days before the inauguration of Trump.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif formally requested the meeting after Washington on December 2 extended the Iran Sanctions Act — which mostly seeks to limit Iran’s oil and gas trade — for another decade.
Although it received overwhelming support from the US Congress, President Barack Obama argues the act is largely symbolic since its measures are suspended as long as the nuclear deal remains in place.
Iranian leaders, including supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, disagree, calling it a “clear violation”.
Another concern for Iran is a wider frustration that the nuclear deal has not produced many of the expected benefits due to the reluctance of international banks to do business in the country.
Zarif could use the meeting to complain that although hundreds of European companies are desperate to resume trading with Iran, major lenders are still refusing to facilitate big transactions.
This is because Washington still has a number of non-nuclear sanctions in place that prevent anyone doing business with a long list of Iranians it says are linked to terrorism, human rights abuses and its ballistic missile program.