Haley: U.S. to Stay In Iran Nuclear Deal ‘Right Now’

The United States for the time being will stay in an international nuclear deal with Iran, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said on Sunday, adding that the Trump administration wanted to weigh a “proportionate” response to Tehran’s actions on the world stage.

“I think right now, you’re going to see us stay in the deal. Because what our hope is that we can improve the situation. And that’s the goal,” Haley said referring to worries over Iran’s ballistic missile tests, international arms sales and state-sponsored terrorism.

Haley, interviewed on NBC, also said the reason the United States was looking closely at the Iran nuclear deal is because of escalating tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapon development. “What we’re saying now with Iran is don’t let it become the next North Korea.”

On Friday, President Trump refused to formally certify that Iran was meeting the requirements of a 2015 international deal aimed at monitoring and controlling that country’s nuclear program.

Congress now has 60 days to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions on Tehran that were lifted under the deal.

In her NBC interview, Haley said, however, “We’re not saying they’re in breach of the agreement.”

Haley, also interviewed on ABC, said of Iran: “We have to hold them accountable. They can’t be continuing to support terrorism around the world like we are seeing they do. They can’t continue to test ballistic missiles, which will lead to a nuclear Iran. They can’t continue to do arms smuggling.”

Haley said that other countries were “turning a blind eye” to these activities by Iran in order to “protect” the nuclear agreement.