IRAN/NATIONAL SECURITY/NUCLEAR/OBAMA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: ”For President Donald Trump, it’s déjà vu all over again on Iran. Iran’s expected breach on Thursday [6-27-19] of the uranium stockpile limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal is reviving a fierce debate within the Trump administration and on Capitol Hill about just how hard Trump should go to undermine the agreement. Even though Trump pulled out from the deal struck by President Barack Obama, an important portion of the agreement was left intact that allows work on Iran’s civil nuclear program and facilitates international projects to encourage its advancement. The State Department has issued waivers to allow those projects to continue and doing away with them would almost certainly blow up the deal entirely. That’s precisely the goal that Trump administration hawks, led by national security adviser John Bolton, have been pursuing — thus far, with only limited success. The next inflection point in the battle is likely to come Thursday, when Iran has said it will surpass the enrichment levels established by the deal.”
–Eliana Johnson and Burgess Everett, “Trump’s hawks ramp up campaign to shred last part of Iran nuclear deal,” Politico, June 27, 2019 5:02 am