US President Donald Trump is planning to decertify the landmark Iran nuclear pact negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama, paving the way for potentially reopening sanctions, two leading US dailies said on Friday.
Mr Trump will argue that the agreement is not in the interest of the US, the Washington Post reported, quoting four people close to the President.
The New York Times said Mr Trump plans to decertify the accord but leave it in force and make Congress decide whether to reimpose punitive sanctions, quoting people briefed on the matter.
Resumed sanctions could derail the accord negotiated with Tehran by Mr Obama and other major world powers.
Decertification would allow Mr Trump to argue that he has rejected the accord as pledged but not completely ignored senior advisers and lawmakers who say the accord should stand.
Mr Trump on Friday criticised Iran’s behavior with regard to the 2015 pact. “They have not lived up to the spirit of the agreement,” he said as he huddled with military leaders ahead of perhaps the biggest foreign policy decision of his presidency. “The Iranian regime supports terrorism and exports violence and chaos... we must put an end to Iran’s nuclear ambitions,” he said.
