I’m stunned. A US General who actually speaks with reason. “He said that if the U.S. were to withdrawal without first finding Iran in material breach of the deal, allies would likely question other American treaty obligations. And North Korea, for its part, would have little incentive to enter into talks over its own nuclear program if Washington were to tear up an agreement that, by all accounts, Iran is adhering to.”
Dunford follows Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who said last week that Iran remains in “technical compliance” with the deal, but said the plan has not stopped the threat posed by Tehran.
Dunford took the same line, telling senators that since the U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Iran remains in compliance, “therefore I think we should focus on addressing the other challenges; the missile threat they pose, the maritime threat they pose, the support for proxies and terrorists and the cyber threat they pose” across the Middle East.
President Donald Trump is staring down an Oct. 15 deadline to inform Congress whether Iran remains in compliance with the 2015 accord. Twice since taking office, he has recertified the deal. But if he now decides to declare that Iran is breaching the agreement, Congress will have 60 days to decide whether to re-impose sanctions. Read more here.