The new U.S. course avoids some of the most drastic options the administration could have pursued. Still, it includes certain aspects that risk alienating the United States from its allies and pushing Iran to the point that it pulls out of the deal itself. If Iran leaves the accord, it could scrap limits placed on its nuclear program and eject international inspectors. Iran maintains its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only.
Following a monthslong review of the nation’s Iran policy, Tillerson said the administration opted against pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 deal that lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on the oil-rich nation’s nuclear program. President Donald Trump has threatened to abandon that deal since his campaign days.
The other JCPOA negotiators — China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom — as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency, which conducts inspections of Iranian facilities, say that Iran remains in compliance.
“Under the JCPOA, we don’t disagree. We don’t dispute that they’re under technical compliance,” Tillerson said. “One of the weaknesses is the bar, the standard, to remain in technical compliance is not that difficult or has not been that difficult for them to meet.”
