US to review lifting of sanctions on Iran: Tillerson
Rex Tillerson said that President has asked to review the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in order to gauge if suspending the sanctions on Iran is "vital to the national security interests of the...
April 19, 2017
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday he had informed Congress of plans to review whether the lifting of sanctions against Iran under the nuclear deal was in the United States' national security interests.
"President Donald J. Trump has directed a National Security Council-led interagency review of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that will evaluate whether [the] suspension of sanctions related to Iran pursuant to the JCPOA is vital to the national security interests of the United States," Tillerson said in a statement.
Iran-US relations
Tensions between Tehran and Washington rose after an Iranian ballistic missile test that prompted US President Donald Trump's administration to impose sanctions on individuals and entities linked to the country's Revolutionary Guards.
"Iran is a bad actor in the greatest sense of the word when it comes to the region. To Iran, I say, if you want us to treat you differently then stop building missiles, test-firing them in defiance of UN resolution and writing 'Death to Israel' on the missile. That's a mixed message," said Lindsey Graham, a Senate Armed Services Committee member, at the Munich Security Conference.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif told the conference earlier on Sunday that Iran did not respond well to sanctions or threats.
