Trump's move not to certify Iran nuclear deal criticized by allies

U.S. President Donald Trump will not certify that Iran is complying with the terms of a nuclear deal forged in 2015.

In a speech from Washington, D.C., Trump outlined a history of a "sponsorship of terrorism," pointing specifically to attacks against the United States.

Trump said the deal was "one of the worst" and most "one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into"and arguedthe sanctions lifted by the deal gave the country's leaders a "lifeline" when they were in financial trouble, which was used to fund violence and terrorism.

He saidthe deal delivered weak inspections in exchange for no more than a temporary delay in Iran's path to nuclear weapons.

"Based on the factual record I have put forward, I amannouncing today that we cannot and will not make thiscertification," Trump said.

Although Trump allowed that Iran is living up to the letter of the agreement, he said it was not following the agreement's "spirit"of the regional stability it was intended to encourage.

He said his administration will seek to counter the Iranianregime's destabilizing activities and will impose additional sanctionsto block its financing of terrorism. Those sanctions especially target Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

The new strategy will alsoseek to address the proliferation of Iran's missiles and weapons, he said, adding that theU.S. will deny Iran's paths to develop nuclear weapons.

"If we are not able to reach a solution by working with Congress and ourallies then the agreement will be terminated," Trump said. "It can be cancelled by me, as president,at any time."

Under U.S. law, Trump faced a Sunday deadline to notify Congress whether Iran is complying with the accord that was painstakingly negotiated over 18 months by theObamaadministration and determine if it remains a national security priority.

"The longer we ignore a threat the more dangerous that threat becomes," Trump said.

The chief of the UNagency monitoring the nuclear dealsays Iran is honouring its commitments.

The statement from Yukiya Amano of the International Atomic Energy Agency was issued Friday after Trump's speech.

Amano says the "nuclear-related commitments undertaken by Iran ... are being implemented" and Tehran is "subject to the world's most robust nuclear verification regime."

Iran committed to deal

Despite Trump's comments, Iran will remain committed to the nuclear deal as long as it serves the country's national interests, and its ballistic missile programwill expand despite pressure from the United States, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said.

Rouhani said in a live television address that the speech was full of "insults and fake accusations" against Iran.

"The Iranian nation has not and will never bow to any foreign pressure ... Iran and the deal are stronger than ever ... Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps will continue its fight against regional terrorists," Rouhani said.

He said that Trump's decision to decertify the deal would isolate the United States as other signatories of the accord remained committed to it andthe deal was not renegotiable.

Israel, Saudi Arabia back Trump

Shortly after Trump's remarks, he received congratulations from Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu.

"He [Trump]boldly confronted Iran's terrorist regime [and] created an opportunity to fix this bad deal, to roll back Iran's
aggression and to confront its criminal support of terrorism,"Netanyahu said in a Facebook video.

Saudi Arabia also welcomed what it called Trump's "decisivestrategy" towardIran and said lifting sanctions had allowedTehran to develop its ballistic missile program, step up itssupport for militant groups including Hezbollah and the Houthisin Yemen, and attack global shipping lanes.

The Riyadh government said in a statement it had supportedthe nuclear agreement, "but Iran took advantage of the economicgain from raising sanctions and used it to continuedestabilizing the region."

But Trump's decision also faced criticism, withEuropean Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherinisaying the deal is a robust agreement that is working and cannot be terminated by any one leader.

Mogherini said the accord "is a robust deal that provides guarantees and a strong monitoring mechanism so that Iran's nuclear program is, and will remain, exclusively for civilian purposes only."

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Mogherini, who worked on behalf of major world powers to secure the deal, told reporters that "there have been no violations of any of the commitments."

She underlined that Trump cannot kill the deal, saying: "the president of the United States has many powers: not this one."

European allies, Russia,criticize decision

Also critical of Trump's decision were British Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, whoissued a joint statement Friday night calling the deal "the culmination of 13 years of
diplomacy" and "a major step towards ensuring that Iran's nuclear program is not diverted for military purposes."

The three leaders urged the Trump administration and Congress to consider the possible consequences for the West's security "before taking any steps that might undermine" the deal, including imposing sanctions on Iran that the agreement lifted.

Russian Deputy Foreign MinisterSergei Ryabkov said on Friday it was "extremely troubling" thatTrump was raising questions that had beensettled when an international deal on Iran's nuclear programwas signed, RIA news agency reported.

Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Trump's decision not to certifyis reckless and divisive.

Kerry led the Obama administration's Iran deal negotiations. In a statement Friday, Kerry says Trump is "creating an international crisis."

Kerry says it is now up to Congress and the other parties to the deal to be "the adults in the room" and save it.

The2017 Nobel Peace laureate, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, was also critical of Trump's decision.