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U.S. Seeking to Add to Iran Nuclear Deal, Not Eliminate It
(NPR) Steve Inskeep - Brian Hook, the State Department's policy planning director, told NPR that the Trump administration seeks to add to the nuclear deal with Iran, rather than eliminate it. Hook said the U.S. does not contemplate negotiating with Iran and that Western diplomats instead are discussing new measures they might jointly impose on Iran. "We're trying to address the deficiencies of the Iran nuclear deal" and achieve "a supplemental agreement that the president has requested that would address a lot of the problems that we have with the existing deal." New measures would include extending restrictions on Iranian nuclear development, parts of which begin to expire in 2025. "We also want to address Iran's intercontinental ballistic missile program and we need to deter Iran from its adventurism in the Middle East, which has destabilized the region." Hook noted that the Iran deal "is not a treaty, it's not an executive agreement. It has no signatures. It has no legal status. It is a political commitment by an administration that's no longer in office."