US Secretary Of State Rex W. Tillerson has said that the Iran nuclear deal, JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), is no longer the focal point of America’s policy toward Tehran.
In an op-ed for The New York Times on December 27, Mr. Tillerson echoes Trump's view that the Iranian nuclear deal is “flawed”.
The chief of American diplomacy writes in the op-ed that Washington has shifted its policy to confronting what he describes as the "totality of Iranian threats."
Elaborating on the details of the new US approach towards Iran Mr. Tillerson writes “Part of this strategy entails rebuilding alliances with our partners in the Middle East, and in November we helped re-establish diplomatic ties between Iraq and Saudi Arabia”.
The flawed Iran nuclear deal is no longer the focal point of our policy toward Iran. We are now confronting the totality of Iranian threats.US Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson
In far as the JCPOA is concerned, Rex Tillerson says the State Department will work with US allies and Congress to find options fix the agreement. He also warns that the U.S. government is trying to gather support for punishing Iran for its violation of limitations put on its ballistic missiles program and its “destabilizing activities in the region”.
The Islamic Republic’s support of Hezbollah in Lebanon and its alleged involvement in Iraq, Yemen and Syria plus its outright support of the Syria's Bashar Assad and its controversial ballistic missile program are some of the reasons US accuses Iran of violating the spirit of JCPOA.
The Islamic Republic says it is Washington that has not been adhering to the JCPOA by imposing new sanctions against Iranian entities. According to Tehran its missile program is solely for defensive purposes and cannot be the subject of another round of talks similar to what led to the conclusion of JCPOA in 2015.
US President Donald Trump has criticized the Obama Administration for the nuclear deal with Iran calling it the worst deal. He has threatened that US could pull out of the deal should Iran continue its current policy.