The Trump administration certified to Congress late Monday that Iran has continued to meet the required conditions of its nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers.
But senior administration officials made clear that the certification was grudging, and said that President Trump intended to impose a new round of sanctions against Iran for ongoing “malign activities” in non-nuclear areas such as ballistic missile development and support for terrorism.
“We judge that these Iranian activities severely undermine the intent” of the agreement as a force for international stability, one official said. Iran is “unquestionably in default of the spirit of the JCPOA,” or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, that went into effect in January 2016 after years of negotiations, the official said.
