Jim Mattis, U.S. secretary of defense, testifies during a Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing on Tuesday. Mattis said that he believed it was in the national security interests of the United States to stay in the Iran nuclear deal. But at each hearing, the top Pentagon officials faced questions about the Iran nuclear pact, which is hitting critical deadline. Since his presidential campaign, Trump has spared no kind words for Iran or the nuclear pact, which he called “an embarrassment” during a speech to the United Nations General Assembly last month. Even if Trump declines to certify Iran’s compliance, Mattis told the lawmakers, Congress did not have to rip up the nuclear deal.

Source: Washington Post October 03, 2017 20:15 UTC