Tillerson says he and Trump disagree over Iran nuclear deal

By Yeganeh Torbati

 

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks during a press conference after talks with Chinese diplomatic and defense chiefs at the State Department in Washington, U.S. June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged on Tuesday that he and President Donald Trump disagree over the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and said the two men discuss how to use the international agreement to advance administration policies.

 

Trump at times vowed during the 2016 presidential election campaign to withdraw from the agreement, which was signed by the United States, Russia, China and three European powers to curb Iran's nuclear program in return for lifting most Western sanctions.

 

Trump has preserved the deal for now, although he has made clear he did so reluctantly after being advised to do so by Tillerson.

 

"He and I have differences of views on things like JCPOA, and how we should use it," Tillerson said at a State Department briefing, using the acronym for the deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

 

Tillerson said that Washington could "tear it up and walk away" or stay in the deal and hold Iran accountable to its terms, which he said would require Iran to act as a "good neighbour."

 

Critics say the deal falls short in addressing Iran's support for foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria, arms shipments around the Middle East and ballistic missile tests.

 

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tillerson's remarks.

 

Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal last month that he predicts Iran will be judged "noncompliant" with the Iran deal at the next deadline in October, and that he would have preferred to do so months ago.

 

Tillerson expressed a more nuanced view of the deal's potential benefits on Tuesday.

 

"There are a lot of alternative means with which we use the agreement to advance our policies and the relationship with Iran, and that's what the conversation generally is around with the president as well," Tillerson said.

 

European officials would likely be reluctant to re-impose sanctions, especially the broader measures that helped drive Iran to negotiate over its nuclear program in the first place, he said.

 

New U.S. sanctions on Iran in July were a breach of the nuclear deal and Tehran had lodged a complaint with the body that oversees the pact's implementation, a senior Iranian politician said.

 

Tillerson acknowledged that the United States is limited in how much it can pressure Iran on its own and said it was important to coordinate with the other parties to the agreement.

 

"The greatest pressure we can put to bear on Iran to change the behaviour is a collective pressure," he said.

 

(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; editing by Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-08-02

trump is simply clueless about everything

Tillerson will have had enough before the year is out.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/24/rexit-rex-tillerson-quit-donald-trumps-secretary-state-end-year/

 

Perhaps the inept one could hire Sec. Clinton.

Oops... new Secretary of State required... polish off your resumes, (good old) boys

Why is it that Iran should not be allowed to support fighters in Iraq and Syria while it's OK for the US to do so?

Trump got his positions on issues, and supporters, from Fox News, and Fox News applied the simple-minded logic that if Obama did it, it must be bad.

 

Tillerson clearly is more intelligent than that, which isn't a difficult standard to achieve.

3 hours ago, mike324 said:

trump is simply clueless about everything

Except for "important" things like how hot Ivanka is. 

7 minutes ago, heybruce said:

Trump got his positions on issues, and supporters, from Fox News, and Fox News applied the simple-minded logic that if Obama did it, it must be bad.

 

Tillerson clearly is more intelligent than that, which isn't a difficult standard to achieve.

The art of adults in government ignoring the insane elephant in the room, the insane sleazy potus.

Possibly the only hope of the nation emerging intact from the nightmare mistake of electing it.