White House: Tillerson Will Soon Issue Statement on JCPOA

Shawn Spicer, the White House spokesperson, stated on Monday, July 17, that Rex Tillerson, the U.S. Secretary of State, will soon announce his opinion regarding Iran's compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). According to the agreement reached in July 2015 between six world powers, including the U.S. and Iran, the U.S. State Department must inform Congress every 90 days whether Iran has adhered to the terms of the JCPOA. Today (Monday) marks the deadline for the Trump administration in this regard. Spicer said on Monday that the Secretary of State would issue a statement on this matter soon. The White House spokesperson added, "I think everyone knows that the President (Donald Trump) has been very clear in expressing his view that this is a bad deal, a bad deal for the United States." In this context, an unnamed U.S. official told Reuters on Thursday, July 13, that the Trump administration is "likely" to certify Iran's compliance with the JCPOA for another period. If the U.S. government certifies Iran's compliance with the JCPOA, this new decision will allow Iran to benefit from the advantages of the JCPOA regarding sanctions relief. Meanwhile, discussions about the pros and cons of this agreement have been ongoing in the U.S. in recent weeks. Last week, staunch opponents of the Iran deal in Congress called for its rejection by the Trump administration. Four Republican senators wrote a letter to Rex Tillerson on Tuesday, attempting to persuade him to reject the Iran deal. They wrote, "We want you to not certify that the reduction of U.S. sanctions for Iran is in the interest of U.S. national security or that Iran has complied with the terms of the JCPOA." The signatories of this letter include Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton, David Perdue, and Ted Cruz. Meanwhile, some reports last week indicated that the U.S. State Department confirmed that Washington would remain "committed" to the terms of the JCPOA, although it continues to review and finalize its policy towards Iran. Herbert Robert McMaster, the White House National Security Advisor, also stated on Monday that the U.S. review regarding the JCPOA and policies towards Iran is likely to be completed by the end of summer. According to National Review, Mr. McMaster emphasized that the nuclear agreement has not changed Iran's behavior. The National Security Advisor referred to the nuclear deal with Iran as a "bad" agreement. Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister stated that if the JCPOA is significantly violated, Iran will also consider exiting the JCPOA. Mohammad Javad Zarif emphasized in an interview with National Interest that if a major violation of the agreement occurs, based on what is referred to in the JCPOA as non-compliance, Iran also has options available, including exiting this (nuclear) agreement.