A legal expert on Thursday flagged a striking detail in the deal President Donald Trump's administration and the Iranian regime signed over the weekend that could derail the agreement entirely.
Dave Aronberg, the former state attorney in Florida, said on a new episode of the "Legal AF" podcast that Trump signed a federal law that could prevent the deal from being effective. Republicans introduced a measure in a funding bill to support the war in Ukraine that designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization for four years, a designation that would be required to be lifted if the Trump administration wants to provide broad sanctions relief, Aronberg noted.
"How does an administration legally trap itself? Well, it comes down to this overlooked piece of legislation," Aronberg said.
"It's hard to believe that the Trump administration would actually overlook something important when it comes to foreign policy," he added.
Some of the points the Trump administration agreed to in the memorandum of understanding it signed with the Iranians on Sunday include allowing the regime to resume oil sales and establishing a $300 billion reconstruction fund for the country that could include funds from other Gulf states.
Aronberg noted that those promises are empty unless the Trump administration plans to drop the terrorist designation for the Iranian regime.
"Trump would have to formally certify to Congress that removing Iranian drone terrorists from our official terrorist watch list is vital to the national security of the United States," Aronberg said. "That's going to be a tough call for even the Republicans who normally just rubber-stamp what he wants."