On Iran Deal, Trump Courts Another Fiasco like Repealing Obamacare
Article/Op-Ed in CNN
Oct. 11, 2017
Peter Bergen wrote for CNN about the Iran deal:
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump was clear about his view of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which delays the Islamic state from acquiring nuclear weapons for more than a decade in exchange for the lifting of draconian US-led sanctions on Iran.
Trump told CNN in the summer of 2015, "[The Iranians] are laughing at the stupidity of the deal we're making on nuclear. We should double up and triple up the sanctions and have them come to us. They are making an amazing deal."
As president, Trump has carried on the drumbeat of criticism of the deal and hinted that he is about to take a major step on it. Trump can try to rip up the deal by "decertifying" that Iran is compliant within the terms of the agreement and have the Republican-controlled Congress act on it, for instance, by imposing new sanctions on Iran.
Trump reportedly plans to decertify the agreement by October 15, which is one of the regular deadlines for the continued certification of the nuclear deal.