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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/14/world/middleeast/trump-iran-deal-sanctions-deadline.html
Trump Pursues New Path with Iran
(New York Times) David E. Sanger - President Trump kept the Iran nuclear deal alive on Thursday as a congressionally imposed deadline to renew an exemption to sanctions on Iran lapsed. Had the president reimposed economic punishments on Iran, he would have effectively violated the accord, allowing Tehran to walk away and ending the agreement. The move was more consequential than the decision the president faces in October about recertifying to Congress that Iran is in compliance with the deal, which has no effect on the nuclear agreement itself. On Thursday, Trump again criticized the Iran agreement. "They have violated so many different elements, but they've also violated the spirit of that deal," he said. U.S. National Security Adviser Lt.-Gen. H.R. McMaster and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis have pressed for a quiet escalation of economic and military pushback against Tehran's activities. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has argued that it is possible to both retain the existing deal and get allies on board for extending the duration of the restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities, while negotiating over Iran's development and testing of ballistic missiles.