United States to evaluate whether Iran has complied with nuclear deal

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"It shouldn't have been negotiated the way it was negotiated".

While disparaging the nuclear deal and accusing Iran of fomenting violence and terrorism throughout the Middle East, Trump has avoided committing to abandoning the agreement, a move that would be staunchly opposed by US businesses and European allies.

Trump's remarks came just a day after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson affirmed in a letter to Congress that Iran was in compliance with the deal.

Zarif made the comments after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday that Iran is sticking to the terms of the JCPOA.

In February, Mr Trump had described the nuclear deal with Iran as "the worst" agreement ever negotiated, calling the Islamic Republic the world's "number one terrorist state". "But Iran has not lived up to the spirit of the agreement and they have to do that". "And we are analyzing it very carefully, and we will have something to say about it in the not-too-distant future".

Mr Tillerson accused Iran of intensifying multiple conflicts including the one in Syria, undermining USA interests in several countries, continuing to support attacks against Israel, and sponsoring cyber and terror attacks across the world. The U.S. has continued to punish Tehran for those activities with non-nuclear sanctions that also fall outside the purview of the deal.

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Earlier, the president signed an executive order announcing a review of whether steel imports into the United States could be restricted for national security reasons under a 1962 law. The certification of Iran's compliance, which must be sent to Congress every 90 days, was the first issued by Trump's administration.

Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against the country. The U.S. has been exploring ways to address the threat of North Korea's nuclear program, which is significantly farther along than Iran's.

Companies from China and Iran will this weekend sign the first commercial contracts to redesign an Iranian nuclear plant as part of an worldwide deal reached in 2015 over Iran's nuclear programme, China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. Furthermore, Tillerson also slammed Iran's support of the "brutal Assad regime", which, according to the White House, was responsible for the recent chemical attacks against Syrian civilians.

But in place of taking action, the Trump administration is only reviewing these agreements, as it is doing with much of American foreign policy.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Frederica Mogherini, said last month after meetings with senior Trump administration officials she was reassured in the talks that the USA was committed to fully implementing the deal.

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