Tillerson: Iran nuclear deal fails to achieve non-nuclear Iran

Trump’s Secretary of State said the Iran nuclear agreement “fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran.”

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reiterated during a press conference on Wednesday that “the Trump administration is currently conducting across the entire government a review of our Iran policy.”

Despite having informed the US Congress this week that Iran was fulfilling its enrichment obligations under the nuclear agreement reached with the P5 +1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany), Tillerson stressed concern over the inadequacies of the agreement, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in providing a long-term guarantee of an Iran without nuclear weapons.

“The JCPOA fails to achieve the objective of a non-nuclear Iran,” Tillerson contended. “It only delays their goal of becoming a nuclear state.”

In that regard, UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which backed and endorsed the JCPOA, states that assuming Iran complies with all its obligations, within 10 years of the agreement’s adoption (2015) “all the provisions of resolution 2231 shall be terminated and the Security Council will have concluded its consideration of the Iranian nuclear issue.”

“This deal represents the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat we face from North Korea,” Tillerson continued.  “The United States is keen to avoid a second piece of evidence that strategic patience is a failed approach.”

“The Trump administration has no intention of passing the buck to a future administration on Iran,” he added.

Moreover, Tillerson emphasized that other significant security concerns with regards to Iran were not addressed by the JCPOA.

“(The JCPOA) completely ignored all of the other serious threats that Iran poses…and that’s why our view is that we have to look at Iran in a very comprehensive way in terms of the threat it poses in all areas, of the region and the world, and the JCPOA is just one element of that,” said Tillerson in response to a question posed by MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell.

Specifically, Tillerson referenced apparent non-compliance on Iran’s part with its other obligations in UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

“With its latest test of a medium-range ballistic missile, Iran’s continued development and proliferation of missile technology is in defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 2231,” he said.

“(Iran) has previously stated it will conduct a second test flight of the Simorgh space-launch vehicle, which would put it closer to an operational intercontinental ballistic missile.”

Iran has denied violating UN Security Council Resolution 2231, claiming the ballistic missile test was only conducted for defensive purposes. The resolution “calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.”

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

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