Bloomberg: Trump's hand evident in toughening Iran deal letter

'The letter to Congress from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson certified that Iran is complying with terms of the accord it reached with the US and five other world powers in 2015 to restrict its nuclear activities in return for relief from certain economic sanctions, a finding required by US law every 90 days,' Bloomberg reported.

'But the final version highlighted Iran's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, reflecting Trump's intervention after the president read a draft letter that he found too soft on Tehran,' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

'The letter also said the US administration will review whether to reimpose the US sanctions linked to the nuclear program despite Iran's compliance.'

'A day after sending the letter to the Congress on April 18, Tillerson appeared at the State Department to sharply criticize the nuclear deal reached under former President Barack Obama, calling it another example of buying off a power who has nuclear ambitions. We buy them off for a short period of time and then someone has to deal with it later.'

'Those comments by Tillerson also came at Trump's request,' the official said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported on the intervention by Trump, along with National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.

'Trump has panned what he called 'the horrible Iran deal', saying it would let Iran build nuclear weapons eventually. But reimposing the sanctions that were explicitly tied to Iran’s nuclear program would face particular opposition from European allies and give the government in Tehran grounds to walk away from the accord.'

At a press conference at the White House on April 20, Trump continued to slam the nuclear agreement, and said Iran wasn't “living up to the spirit of the agreement.'

“And we’re analyzing it very, very carefully and we’ll have something to say about it in the not-too-distant future,' Trump said.

On April 20, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a statement that the agreement is confined to the nuclear issues.

'Iran has its own complaints about nefarious activities of the US government that aren’t covered by the deal,' he added.

“Worn-out US accusations can't mask its admission of Iran's compliance,” Zarif wrote on his official Twitter account on April 20.

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