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Trump Gives The Iran Deal One Last Lifeline

President Trump is waiving sanctions to keep the Iran deal afloat — but says this is the last time he's doing so.
Posted at 8:55 PM, Jan 12, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-12 20:55:04-05

For what he says is the last time, President Donald Trump is keeping the U.S. in the international deal on Iran's nuclear program.

Trump signed a waiver keeping the U.S. sanctions that would scuttle the deal suspended for another 120 days. At the same time, Trump also levied new sanctions against Iran and said this is the last such waiver he'll sign unless "significant flaws" in the current deal are addressed.

That doesn't seem likely to happen; the other European nations in the agreement don't want to renegotiate the deal without Iran's consent — and Iran's foreign minister says the deal "is not renegotiable."

Trump might not get much help on the deal from Congress either. Last year, Trump "decertified" the deal, giving lawmakers a 60-day window to reimpose sanctions on Iran. Congress didn't touch the issue.