Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the US is not opposed to European countries doing business with Iran, in a stance contradicting President Donald Trump’s belligerent rhetoric against Tehran.
Tillerson’s remarks in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Friday came one week after Trump refused to certify the Iran nuclear deal and left its fate to the US Congress.
“The president’s been pretty clear that it’s not his intent to interfere with business deals that the Europeans may have under way with Iran,” Tillerson told the Journal.
Trump has threatened a “total termination” of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran unless Congress tightens sanctions on the country, which could make business with Tehran even harder.
That deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), terminated the nuclear-related sanctions by the United Nations, the US, and the European Union that had been imposed on Iran. Tehran…