Trump’s strategy on Iran ‘doesn’t exist’ just like rest of US foreign policy

The US does not currently have a strategy for Iran, says a lawmaker, ripping the United States’ foreign policy under President Donald Trump.

Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy made the comments Tuesday as the Trump administration certified Iran’s compliance to the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“The administration’s strategy on Iran is no different than the rest of their foreign policy — it doesn’t exist,” Murphy said.

Tuesday’s certification was the second time the Republican president has certified Iran’s compliance to the international deal, with the first announced in April.

The move was met with criticism by some of the hawkish senators, seeking more pressure on Tehran on the pretext of fighting terrorism.

“I think the certification yesterday was unfortunate and is dangerous,” said Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, an opponent of Trump in the primaries of the 2016 presidential election.

This is while Tehran has accused Washington of violating the deal, in which the UK, Germany, Russia, China and France are also engaged.

Senator Tom Cotton has also been a staunch opponent of the agreement, negotiated by the administration of former President Barack Obama.

“I disagree with this certification,” said the Arkansas Republican in a statement. “Iran is not complying with the nuclear agreement, and granting Iran a full slate of sanctions relief is certainly not vital to U.S. national security.”

 ‘Longer term plans’ for Iran

There were also those such as South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who threw their support behind levying non-nuclear accusations against Iran, citing allegation of support for terrorism.

“Technical compliance with a nuclear agreement doesn’t get us to where we want to go if they then take the $150 billion and spend it on terrorism. So rather than gutting the deal that they may be in technical compliance with, let’s go after the behavior,” said the GOPer.

Under the agreement, limits were put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all nuclear-related bans against the Islamic Republic.

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• Withdrawal from JCPOA always an option: Zarif

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who had breakfast with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Tuesday, asserted that the US State department was devising “a longer term plan” against Tehran, while simultaneously certifying Iran’s compliance to the deal every 90 days.

“I had breakfast with Tillerson this morning, and I know that they have a longer term plan about ensuring they never have the ability to enrich [uranium], and they want some time to develop that,” Corker said.

Tehran has previously made it clear that its right to uranium enrichment is non-negotiable.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif asserted earlier that any major JCPOA violation on behalf of the US may result in Tehran’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal.

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