ADDS DETAILS THROUGHOUT, CHANGES QUOTE IN LEAD
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - President Donald Trump on Friday laid out his new strategy for addressing what he termed Iran's "dangerous aggression", issuing new penalties against Iran's Revolutionary Guards and saying he will not certify the landmark Iran nuclear deal.
Presidents are required under U.S. law to certify the Iran deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), every 90 days. Trump had until Sunday to make the certification, but said "we cannot and will not" take the action.
“What is the purpose of a deal that, at best, only delays Iran’s nuclear capability for a short period of time?” Trump asked rhetorically during a White House address.
Trump claimed Iran has run afoul of the agreement on multiple occasions, pointing to alleged violations of limits of nuclear materials, as well as what he called Iran's intimidation of "international inspectors into not using full inspection authorities that the agreement calls for."
"Iranian officials and military leaders have repeatedly claimed they will not allow inspectors on to military sites even though the international community suspects some of those sites were part of Iran’s clandestine nuclear weapons program,” he said.
In exchange for lifting sanctions on Iran, the JCPOA provided international inspectors broad access to Iran's nuclear program as Iran sharply curtailed the program.
Military sites were not explicitly included in the deal, and international inspectors have continually verified Iran's compliance since the JCPOA went into effect in January 2016.
With Trump's decertification, Congress will now have to decide how it will proceed on the historic nuclear deal.
Trump also announced sanctions on the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, calling it the "Iranian Supreme leader’s corrupt personal terror force and militia”.
He said the Iranian military organization plotted to bomb a restaurant in Washington DC., but it is unclear what incident he is referring to.