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Trump says deal with Iran may hold

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday renewed his threat to fully withdraw the United States from the landmark Iran nuclear deal, while holding out the possibility that fixes to the accord may prevent an American pullout.

Justifying his decision last week to decertify the 2015 pact under U.S. law, Trump said the United States had been taken advantage of in negotiations the Obama administration conducted and that he was tired of it. He said that’s why he refused to confirm to Congress that the deal is in America’s national security interest.

Trump decertified the pact on the grounds that Iran had committed several violations of the deal and is receiving disproportionate relief from international sanctions for the concessions it made. But he did not announce a withdrawal from the agreement. Instead, he kicked the future of U.S. participation to Congress.

“I feel strongly about what I did,” Trump told reporters at a meeting of his Cabinet in the White House on Monday. “I’m tired of being taken advantage of as a nation. This nation has been taken advantage of for many, many years, for many decades, frankly, and I’m tired of watching it. But the Iran deal was something that I felt had to be done.”

Lawmakers now have 60 days to snap back sanctions on Iran that had been suspended, keep the status quo or, as the Trump administration has suggested, amend or replace the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act — which compels the president to reaffirm Iran’s compliance with the deal ever 90 days.

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