Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he believed the United States can deal with the many flaws in the Iran nuclear deal by staying within the agreement.
Partial transcript as follows:
TAPPER: Before the Senate not long ago, your counterpart at the Pentagon, Secretary Mattis, was asked if he thought staying in the agreement was in the best interest of the United States. Not a question about whether or not he wanted to improve on the deal or add a secondary deal, but whether or not the U.S. should stay in it or leave. He said staying in it was his course. It sounds like you agree with that as well that you would not want Congress to immediately impose sanctions that would end this deal.
TILLERSON: No, I do agree with that. I think the president does as well, that’s why he took the decision he took. Look, let’s see if we cannot address the flaws in the agreement by staying within the agreement, working with the other signatories, working with our European friends and allies within the agreement. As I said, that may come in a secondary agreement as well. So, we want to take the agreement as it exists today, fully enforce that agreement, be very demanding, identify Iran’s compliance under the agreement and then begin the process of addressing these flaws that we see.
(h/t The Hill)
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