Some media outlets mistakenly headlined that Donald Trump’s planned announcement to “decertify” Iranian compliance with the July 2015 nuclear deal is the first step to US withdrawal.
It’s not. Instead Trump will be kicking the can down the road, leaving it to Congress to decide if it wants to reimpose sweeping sanctions on Tehran. Even that is far from certain, with Trump’s senior advisors like Defense Secretary James Mattis telling legislators that this is not necessary and Republicans as well as Democrats far from united on next steps.
I talked through the situation with Monocle 24’s The Briefing on Friday afternoon.
