Trump will extend Iran sanctions relief, keeping Obama-era nuclear deal alivefor now
Source: CNBC
President Donald Trump will, for the final time, waive sanctions against Iran, extending the life of an international nuclear accord that the commander in chief disavowed three months ago, according to senior administration officials.
The waiver marks the first time Trump has granted sanctions relief since he told Congress in October that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal is no longer in the country's national security interest. Trump has called the accord the "worst deal ever," but he's declined to scrap it while Congress prepares legislation to modify the agreement and his administration marshals international support to increase pressure on Iran.
The nuclear deal, hammered out in 2015 by six world powers, lifts crippling sanctions on Iran's lifeblood oil and gas industry and the broader economy. In exchange, the Iranian regime agreed to limits on its nuclear program and allowed inspectors to monitor its facilities.
Trump risked sparking a diplomatic crisis with France, Germany and the U.K. — three parties to the deal — and the broader European Union if he refused to issue the waivers. Restoring sanctions against Iran, OPEC's third-largest oil producer, also threatened to roil energy markets and put a freeze on billions of foreign investment into the country.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/12/trump-will-extend-iran-sanctions-relief-keeping-obama-era-nuclear-deal-alive--for-now.html
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The fact that the Ayatollah blamed "Iran's enemies" for stirring up their recent protests (with a death toll of 21) juxtaposed with Trump's reluctant signing of the waiver today makes me wonder if there is a connection. Was Trump (and Bibi) maybe trying to stir up an excuse to kill the nuclear deal and start a war or something?
