U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Iran technically may be in compliance with the nuclear deal it forged under the Obama administration but isn’t living up to the full spirit of the bargain, which eased major sanctions on Tehran.
President Trump said Friday he’s decertifying the deal, but he stopped short of pulling out of the international agreement, instead giving Congress 60 days to take a tougher approach toward Iran’s lawless behavior.
“When you look at the threats and you look at the fact that they’re the No. 1 state sponsor of terrorism, you look at the ballistic missile tests that they continue to do, you look at the arms sales, you look at all the trouble they’re causing around the world, what the president’s saying is, ‘It’s not proportionate. We need to look at this. We need to see how it is.’” Ms. Haley told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Mr. Trump has called the 2015 agreement signed by President Barack Obama a “horrible” deal and threatened to rip it up.
Ms. Haley said the U.S. will stay in for now, as it looks for ways to help the American people “feel safer” by going to Congress.
“I think what you’re going to see is the president’s going to work very closely with Congress to try and come up with something that is more proportionate, something that does make sense for the U.S. to agree to,” Ms. Haley said.
Ms. Haley pushed back at suggestions Mr. Trump, by wavering on the parameters of a deal already struck with Iran, is weakening his hand with North Korea, which is trumpeting its own nuclear ambitions.
“What we’re saying now with Iran is don’t let it become the next North Korea,” Ms. Haley said. “So what this says to North Korea is, ‘Don’t expect us to engage in a bad deal. And also, if at any point we do come up with something, expect us to follow through with it. Expect us to hold you accountable. You’re not just going to have a free-for-all.’”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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