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A gay Republican group says the deal could be renegotiated to include human rights protections, but others say this is unlikely.
Leaders of the Log Cabin Republicans say Donald Trump's threat to walk away from the Iran nuclear treaty and renegotiate it will open the door for a deal that will improve the lives of LGBT Iranians -- but some other groups beg to differ.
Trump announced Friday that he will not recertify the deal, which limits Iran's capacity to develop nuclear energy, as other nations fear this could lead to development of nuclear weapons, and lifts economic sanctions against Iran. It was negotiated between Iran and six other nations in 2015, when Barack Obama was president, and Congress requires the president to recertify it every 90 days. Trump and other Republicans have frequently said it is insufficient, and he has claimed Iran is not in compliance with the deal's terms -- something that European Union leaders say is inaccurate (several E.U. nations were part of the deal). Congress now has 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions; if the U.S. were to do so, it would actually be in violation of the deal, the BBC reports.
While the dispute continues, Log Cabin president Gregory T. Angelo issued this statement of praise for Trump's action:
As the only LGBT organization to actively, repeatedly, and consistently maintain that the Iran Deal had negative consequences for the LGBT community since its inception, President Trump's decision today is one welcomed by Log Cabin Republicans. It is no secret that the Iranian regime kills gay men -- and men simply suspected of being gay -- and cloaks the abominable practice of so-called 'conversion therapy' in the guise of forced gender reassignment surgery. President Trump's statement today maintains the United States interest in the Iran Deal while opening the door for renegotiation that ultimately could lead to a safer world and a better life for the LGBT community in Iran.
Log Cabin's view is a minority one, however. While acknowledging that LGBT Iranians indeed face many horrors, some human rights groups said pulling out of the nuclear deal is not the way to improve the situation and that the Trump administration, given its anti-LGBT actions domestically, is unlikely to promote LGBT rights abroad.
"While President Trump may be trying to blow up the Iran deal, there's no excuse for members of the Republican Party to make up motivations that instrumentalize LGBT rights in Iran in order to justify a dubious political decision," Tara Sepehri Far, researcher at Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, told The Advocate via email. "Claims that walking away from this agreement would create an opening to improve gay rights -- or any rights -- is in bad-faith and possibly even counterproductive."
Human Rights Campaign Global director Ty Cobb added, "Donald Trump and Mike Pence have taken a number of steps to harm the LGBTQ community. Whether it's the Justice Department's newly announced license to discriminate against LGBTQ people or an unpatriotic attack on transgender service members, this administration has truly put into practice the politics of hate. Additionally, neither Trump nor Pence have directly spoken out against the attacks against LGBTQ people in Chechnya or more recent attacks in Azerbaijan, Egypt, and Indonesia. We need real, vocal leadership from this administration on human rights. Considering their anti-LGBTQ agenda and their failure to lead on human rights, it's naive to believe this administration has any intent to improve the lives of LGBTQ Iranians."
The supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, tweeted today that Trump is telling "whoppers" about the deal, the BBC reports. He also called Trump a "brute" and said that if the U.S. pulls out of the deal, Iran would shred it.
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