[W]ASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Friday he would not certify Iran’s compliance with an Obama-era treaty.
Trump stopped short of fully unraveling the deal, a diplomatic hallmark of Barack Obama’s presidency. It is now up to Congress to decide whether to impose sanctions on Iran again, which would fully upend the agreement.
In a speech at the White House Friday, Trump echoed a refrain from the campaign trail, denouncing the 2015 agreement as “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”
The deal was established to limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Vermont’s delegation members issued searing criticism of Trump’s decision.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., charged that the move contradicts recommendations of experts, endangers the American people, and isolates the country from key allies.
“Unfortunately, I heard no strategy from Trump today, just a lot of bluster,” he continued.
The president’s “bellicose rhetoric” will only serve to alienate Iran’s regime and make compromise more difficult, the senator said.
“Now that this decision has been put in Congress’ hands, it’s up to us to stop this drift toward war,” Sanders said.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., argued that Trump’s decision erodes the country’s diplomatic clout, sending a message that the United States “cannot be trusted to keep its word.”
Though the agreement is “not perfect,” Leahy said, it is a “significant accomplishment” to limit Iran’s nuclear program.
“As long as Iran complies, so should we,” he said, also encouraging Congress to act to maintain relations with Iran.
