by Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff
As U.S. reviews its policy on Iran, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson cautions that Tehran could become a threat like North Korea if left unchecked • Tillerson warns that all threats posed by Iran must be addressed, "and it is clear there are many."
U.S. Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson
|
Photo credit: Reuters  |
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on
Wednesday accused Iran of "alarming ongoing provocations" to destabilize
countries in the Middle East as the Trump administration launched a
review of its policy toward Tehran.
Tillerson told reporters the review, which he
announced on Tuesday, would not only look at Tehran's compliance with a
2015 nuclear deal but also its behavior in the region which he said
undermined U.S. interests in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.
His tough words matched those of U.S. Defense
Secretary Jim Mattis, who said in a visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday
that Iran's destabilizing influence would have to be overcome to end the
conflict in Yemen.
U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the review
to evaluate whether suspension of sanctions related to the nuclear deal
was "vital to the national security interests of the United States,"
Tillerson said
Though there was no sign the Trump
administration intended to walk away from the deal, Tillerson twice
cautioned that if left unchecked Tehran could become a threat like North
Korea, which is also under pressure over its nuclear ambitions.
In a letter to U.S. House of Representatives
Speaker Paul Ryan released late on Tuesday, Tillerson declared that Iran
was meeting its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal but there were
concerns about Tehran's role as a state sponsor of terrorism.
"A comprehensive Iran policy requires we
address all of the threats posed by Iran, and it is clear there are
many," Tillerson told reporters at the State Department.
Tillerson said the 2015 nuclear deal between
Iran and six world powers failed "to achieve the objective of a
non-nuclear Iran and only delays their goal of becoming a nuclear
state."
Iran has yet to comment on the Trump
administration's review, but Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei warned in November that Tehran would retaliate if the United
States breached the nuclear agreement.
Tillerson said one of the mistakes in the way
the agreement was put together was that it ignored all the other serious
threats Iran posed outside of its nuclear program.
"That is why we have to look at Iran in a very
comprehensive way in terms of the threat it poses in all areas of the
region and the world," he added.
"This deal represents the same failed approach
of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat we face from
North Korea," Tillerson said of the nuclear deal.
The nuclear agreement, negotiated during
Barack Obama's presidency, placed limitations on Iran's nuclear program
in exchange for lifting economic sanctions against Iran.
Tillerson's notice to Congress was part of a
90-day process in which the president has to certify that Iran is
complying with the nuclear accord. It is the first update under the
Trump administration.
The next test of Trump's attitude toward the
nuclear deal will be in May when he must decide whether to extend
sanctions waivers for Iran first signed by Obama.
During his presidential campaign, Trump called
the agreement "the worst deal ever negotiated" and said he would review
it once he reached office.
The European Union's foreign policy chief,
Frederica Mogherini, said last month after meetings with senior Trump
administration officials she was reassured in the talks that the U.S.
was committed to fully implementing the deal.
Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=41861
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