Staying in the nuclear deal between Iran
and world powers is in the U.S. national interest, Defense Secretary
James Mattis told lawmakers Tuesday.
The
acknowledgement comes as President Donald Trump is expected to issue a
decision later this month on whether he will keep the U.S. in the
internationally-brokered Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
"The
point I would make is if we can confirm that Iran is living by the
agreement, if we can determine that this is in our best interests, then
clearly, we should stay with it," Mattis testified before the Senate
Armed Services Committee. "I believe at this point in time, absent
indications to the contrary, it is something the president should
consider staying with."
But Mattis
added he supports Trump's "rigorous review" of the agreement, which
provided Iran with relief from international sanctions in exchange for
widespread curbs and inspections of its nuclear program.
Congress requires presidents to certify Iran is in compliance with the agreement every 90 days. The next deadline is Oct. 15.
Joint
Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford later said he believes Iran is not
in material breach of the accord he believes has delayed Tehran’s
development of a nuclear capability.
Trump
campaigned against the agreement during last year's race for the White
House and used his first UN address to decry the deal he said was an
"embarrassment to the United States."
He commonly refers to the JCPOA as one of the worst deals he has ever seen.
A
unilateral U.S. exit from the agreement would likely have undesirable
consequences for Washington -- isolating it from its negotiating
partners that include close European allies, and potentially forcing the
U.S. to sanction them if they continue to keep with the accord's
parameters.
Switching to North Korea,
Mattis said Trump has continued to push him and Secretary of State Rex
Tillerson to pursue a diplomatic solution, even after the U.S. president
publicly stated he told Tillerson to halt diplomatic efforts with
Pyongyang.
Last weekend, Trump said on
Twitter that Tillerson is "wasting his time" negotiating with North
Korea and urged him not to waste his time.
"I
believe that Secretary Tillerson's remarks about probing North Korea to
see if they're ready to talk is what the president was referring to,
not the diplomatic effort writ large," Mattis said.
