Trump keeps Iran deal, but threatens more sanctions on its missile program

Donald Trump has backed away from a campaign promise to scrap a major nuclear security deal with Iran, with officials announcing the agreement and related sanctions relief will stay in place for now.

The Trump administration faced a new congressional deadline yesterday to say whether Iran has curbed its nuclear weapons program in line with the accord.

Under the terms of the two-year-old agreement, Tehran scaled back production of nuke-making material in return for massive sanctions relief.

"The conditions," according to one official who the White House would not name publicly, "have been met, based on information available to the United States."

The 2015 agreement rests on a series of technical benchmarks, and was seen in Washington as a way of avoiding military action to prevent Iran from getting a nuke.

But it has not relieved tensions between Tehran and Washington, which continue to clash particularly over conflicts in the Middle East like Syria and Yemen, where Iran-backed militias hold clout.

On a trip to Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia in May, Trump called on all nations to "isolate" Shiite Iran.

During his election campaign Trump denounced the deal -- reached under former president Barack Obama -- and promised to renegotiate it and get tough on Iran.
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