Trump's Rejection of the Iran Nuclear Deal

By Douglas V. Gibbs

Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

President Trump, this morning, announced in a powerful speech that if we don't do anything about Iran, they will be a problem like North Korea has become in the future.  Therefore, he plans to decertify the Iran Nuclear Deal put into place by the Obama administration without congressional ratification (as the Constitution requires), while also giving Congress a chance to embolden America's position regarding sanctions against Iran.  

The 2015 Iran nuclear deal, according to President Trump, is no longer in the United States’ national security interest.

“It is time for the entire world to join us in demanding that Iran’s government end its pursuit of death and destruction,” Trump said in a statement released by the White House. 

In his address today, Trump indicated that Iran is not abiding by the "spirit of the deal" (likely a phrase that would hopefully disarm Democrat Party opposition to his decision).

Trump has formalized, in his speech, that appeasement policy by the United States is over.  It is time to hold Iran responsible, and if they don't stop their advancement towards nuclear weapons, the president is calling for “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”

In his speech today, President Trump stated he will use the Congressional Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act to decertify the agreement, which gives him the ability to do so if the President believes Iran is not abiding by the provisions of the deal.

Trump also addressed the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, authorizing the Treasury Department to impose targeted sanctions against individuals within the IRGC.

In his speech the President addressed not just Iran's nuclear ambitions, but all of the country's unacceptable behavior. "We will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence more terror and the very real threat of Iran’s nuclear breakout," Trump said.

Trump also addressed the people of Iran. The citizens of Iran have paid a heavy price for the violence and extremism of their leaders, Trump said.

While some experts are saying they believe Iran's leadership will react by hitting our embassies with terrorist attacks, or activating their guard in Iraq, we must recognize that Islam does not always work that way.  It comes down to their interpretation of the will of Allah.  The question is simply, will Iran believe it is still in the will of Allah for them to be on the path they are on, or is the strong response to their activities by President Trump enough for them to curb their behavior because they believe Allah has ceased to give his blessing to their current journey towards confrontation with a President of the United States who may be willing to move American military forces against them if they don't comply.

In the terms of how this move "Makes America Great Again," or as some may say, is this a dangerous step towards foreign entanglements, Trump addressed in today's remarks that our alliance with Israel, and the fact that Israel faces daily confrontations with her Muslim neighbors, is also a large part about why we need to stop the advancement of a nuclear Iran.  In short, Israel, the Middle East, and the world, is safer as a result of Trump's decision to refuse to recertify the disastrous Iran nuclear deal, and abandon the appeasement policies of the previous administration.

What Trump has done here is very Reaganesque.  The strength of America, and the righteousness of that strength, is being used to ensure we have a winning position, and to ensure the bad actors in the world take notice, and back down for fear of that strength.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary