on January 12, 2018, President Trump issued a statement on the status of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“Iran nuclear deal”) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control designated 14 individuals and entities in connection with serious human rights abuses and censorship in Iran, and support to designated Iranian weapons proliferators.  Below, we provide notable highlights from the President’s statement.

President Trump stated that he is waiving the application of certain nuclear sanctions, but as a “last chance” only to secure our European allies’ agreement to fix the following four “flaws of the Iran nuclear deal.”

1. The agreement must demand that Iran allow immediate inspections at all sites requested by international inspectors.
2. The agreement must ensure that Iran never even comes close to possessing a nuclear weapon.
3. The provisions of the nuclear deal must have no expiration date.
4. The legislation must explicitly state in United States law that long-range missile and nuclear weapons programs are inseparable, and that Iran’s development and testing of missiles should be subject to severe sanctions.

Moving forward, the President outlined two paths forward on Iran: either fix the flaws set out above or withdraw from the deal.  He stated that he is ready to sign legislation that includes the four components noted above, and emphasized that, in the absence of an agreement with our European allies that includes these components, the United States will not again waive sanctions in order to stay in the Iran nuclear deal.