President Donald Trump reignited the decades-old US feud with Iran on Friday, vowing to confront the “fanatical regime” and throwing a landmark international nuclear agreement into doubt.
In a speech pocked with grievances dating to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Trump railed against the “Iranian dictatorship, its sponsorship of terrorism, and its continuing aggression in the Middle East and all around the world.”
And he threatened to rip up the 2015 agreement curbing Iran's nuclear program, saying it had failed to address Iranian subversion in its region and its illegal missile program.
“It is under continuous review and our participation can be canceled by me, as president, at any time,” he warned.
And he later lashed out at countries that have stood by the agreement, appearing to accuse them of placing trade profits ahead of security.
“Many people talking, with much agreement, on my Iran speech today. Participants in the deal are making lots of money on trade with Iran!” he wrote on Twitter.
Trump’s bellicose message brought an instant rebuke from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who -- also leaning heavily on past injustices -- declared the United States was “more than ever against the Iranian people.”
But behind Trump’s hardline rhetoric was a subtle but significant presidential climbdown.
He stopped short of nixing a deal negotiated with European allies, China and Russia to lift sanctions against Tehran in return for Iranian curbs on uranium enrichment.
Instead he took a procedural step of “decertifying” the agreement, leaving its fate in the hands of the Republican-controlled Congress.
The US president said he supports efforts in Congress to work on new measures to address these threats without immediately torpedoing the broader deal.
“However, in the event we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated,” Trump said, in a televised address from the Diplomatic Room of the White House.
European leaders slapped back that notion, saying the agreement was not America's alone.
In a cautious but unmistakable rebuke, the leaders of Britain, France and Germany said the deal remained in “our shared national security interest.”
