By Lalit K JhaWashington, Oct 13 (PTI) Condemning Iran as a "fanaticalregime", President Donald Trump today threatened to terminatethe landmark Iran nuclear deal if Congress and US allies failto amend the agreement in "significant ways".
In his hard-hitting speech from the White House, Trumpaccused Iran of violating the spirit of the landmark 2015nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
He said that Iran has "committed multiple violations" ofthe nuclear deal which among other things allows Tehran tocontinue and advance its nuclear weapons programme.
Trump announced that he would not continue to certify theagreement to Congress, but stopped short of immediatelycancelling US participation in the deal and left its fate inthe hands of Congress.
"I am announcing today that we cannot and will not makethis certification," Trump said in a live address to thenation.
A presidential certification to the Congress is must toavoid American sanctions on Iran.
Trump said if he is "not able to reach a solution workingwith congress and our allies", then the "agreement will beterminated".
It is under continuous review and American participationcan be cancelled by him as president at any time, Trump said.
Claiming that there are many flaws in the deal, Trumpannounced that he "cannot and will not" make certificationunder the JCPOA.
The Iran nuclear deal was signed by Iran and 5+1 group ofcountries (Britain, China, France, Russia, the US and Germany)in 2015 under which Iran agreed to freeze its nuclearprogramme for 15 years in exchange for sanctions relief.
He also accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism and said hewould deny the regime "all paths to a nuclear weapon".
"History has shown that the longer we ignore a threat,the more dangerous that threat becomes. We will not continuedown a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence,more terror and the very real threat of Iran's nuclearbreakout," Trump said.
Trump said his policy is based on a clear-eyed assessmentof the Iranian dictatorship, its sponsorship of terrorism, andits continuing aggression in the Middle East and all aroundthe world.
"Iran is under the control of a fanatical regime thatseized power in 1979 and forced a proud people to submit toits extremist rule. This radical regime has raided the wealthof one of the world's oldest and most vibrant nations, andspread death, destruction and chaos all around the globe,” hesaid.
Observing that his new strategy addresses the full rangeof Iran's "destructive" actions, Trump said his administrationwill work with US allies to counter the regime's"destabilising activity" and support for terrorists' proxiesin the region.
"We will place additional sanctions on the regime toblock their financing of terror. We will address the regime'sproliferation of missiles and weapons that threaten itsneighbours. And finally we will deny the regime, all paths toa nuclear weapon," he said.
Trump also announced several major steps hisadministration is taking in pursuit of this strategy.
This he said begins with the long overdue step ofimposing tough sanctions on Iran's Islamic Revolutionary GuardCorps.
He authorised the Treasury Department to further sanctionthe entire IRCG for its support for terrorism and to applysanctions to its officials, agents and affiliates.
He also urged American allies to join the US in takingstrong actions to curb Iran's continued dangerous anddestabilizing behavior, including thorough sanctions outsidethe Iran deal that target the regime's ballistic missileprogram in support for terrorism and all of its destructiveactivities of which there are many.
Trump alleged that the "saddest part" of nuclear deal forthe United States is that all of the money was paid up front,which is unheard of.
"The Iranian regime has committed multiple violations ofthe agreement. For example, on two separate occasions, theyhave exceeded the limit of 130 metric tonnes of heavy water.
Until recently, the Iranian regime has also failed to meet ourexpectations in its operation of advanced centrifuges,” hesaid.
The Iranian regime has also intimidated internationalinspectors into not using the full inspection authorities thatthe agreement calls for, he said.
Iranian officials and military leaders have repeatedlyclaimed they will not allow inspectors onto military sites,even though the international community suspects some of thosesites were part of Iran's clandestine nuclear programme, healleged.
"On the grave matter of Iran's nuclear programme, sincethe signing of the nuclear agreement, the regime's dangerousaggression has only escalated. At the same time, it hasreceived massive sanctions relief while continuing to developits missiles programme."Iran has also entered into lucrative business contractswith other parties to the agreement, he noted.
Stating that when the agreement was finalised in 2015,the Congress passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act toensure that its voice would be heard on the deal, he saidamong other conditions, this law requires the president tocertify that the suspension of sanctions under the deal isappropriate and proportionate to measure and other measurestaken by Iran to terminate its illicit nuclear programme.
Trump said he is directing his administration to workclosely with congress and its allies to address the deals manyserious flaws so that the Iranian regime can never threatenthe world with nuclear weapons.
Ahead of Trump's speech, Secretary of State Rex Tillersonsaid Trump will ask lawmakers to come up with legislation thatwould automatically re-impose sanctions that were lifted underthe deal should Iran cross any one of numerous nuclear andnon-nuclear "trigger points."Noting that Iran's nuclear programme is of big concern,he said but there are also many more immediate concerns thatthe US has with TehranÂ’s destabilising activities in theregion.
This includes their support of terrorist organisations,regional destabilising activities and their export of foreignfighters throughout the region to destabilise areas in supportof other terrorist activities.
"We are concerned about addressing those elements whichby and large have gone unaddressed in the past. On the onehand we want to examine the nuclear agreement understand howwe can use that in a very productive and forceful way but alsohow do we address all of these other issues," Tillerson said.
Earlier, the White House while announcing PresidentTrump's new Iran strategy, said the US will revitalise itstraditional alliances and regional partnerships as bulwarksagainst Iranian subversion and restore a more stable balanceof power in the region. PTI LKJPMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.