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Lets assume President Trump decides the Iran Deal is not a good thing for the United States, which is becoming clearer every day, and he wants to exit. What can he actually do? The answer is: Pretty much anything he wants. Because President Obama flagrantly refused to treat this treaty as a treaty, it has very little legal standing. If he is willing to take the political and diplomatic heat, President Trump could take it out onto the West Lawn at the White House, douse it with lighter fluid and burn it.

If he chooses a more conventional method, he has several options and requirements both domestically and at the UN, where President Obama expanded the Joint Coordinated Plan of Action (JCPOA) into a UN Security Council resolution.

One option is to declare that an agreement this important deserved to be done in accordance with the Constitution. He can submit it to the Senate for their advice and consent and then see if 67 Senators want to sign on. They wont, because they know this deal is a debacle. They punted via filibuster and didnt even vote when it came up under the Corker-Cardin act which was designed to give a fig leaf of Congressional oversight.

Secretary of State John Kerry talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna on Jan. 16, after the International Atomic Energy Agency verified that Iran met all conditions under the nuclear deal. (Kevin Lamarque/AP)

This option has two major pluses: it remedies a bad piece of executive overreach by President Obama in pretending an obvious treaty was not one to avoid a Senate vote; and it also involves Congress in the decision to withdraw from the deal. Since this will be a provocative and in some ways dangerous move, it would be important to have as much U.S. cohesion as possible to show a strong front to the world.

It will be dangerous to withdraw from the deal. But failing to withdraw will leave the Iranians on a glide path to full nuclear capability and that is a much more dangerous prospect.

This or any other repudiation of the deal by President Trump would still leave the UN Security Council Resolution UNSCR 2231 intact. But there is a mechanism in the resolution that allows the U.S. to state Iran has not complied with the deal and then use our veto to stop any pushback against that claim. If we hold fast, then the sanctions on Iran that have only been suspended snap back into place.

A second option is to pressure Iran in ways that ultimately lead them to withdraw. Iran has been acting in bad faith all along. They got their reward in cash from the Obama administration and removal of sanctions, but never really meant to stop their goal of becoming a nuclear power. If the deal becomes inconvenient, theyll walk away themselves.

The Iranians seem to be starting down that road on their own. They just brought a list of their complaints about U.S. non-compliance to the JCPOA commission tasked with hearing disputes. It is a stunning act of chutzpah for Iran to be the onecomplaining, but it may offer a way for the president to let them talk themselves out of the deal. That would free us to put actual pressure on them.

The main impediment to President Trump acting on his promises and good instinct to get us out of this awful deal is the collective inertia of his cabinet to leave it in place. The State Department is heavily invested in it, and several other senior leaders have urged him not to withdraw. But the president rightly believes this deal is bad and dangerous, and told them he did not want to certify Iran as compliant again and assigned other advisers to work the issue.

It will be dangerousto withdraw from the deal, as Iran will almost certainly react in troubling ways. But failing to withdraw will leave the Iranians on a glide path to full nuclear capability and that is a much more dangerous prospect.

Jim Hanson is President of Security Studies Group and served in US Army Special Forces.

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Dump the Iran deal | Fox News

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said that his administration and country will show a "unified" response to a breach of the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers.

"The world should know that any breach of the deal will face a unified reaction of the Iranian nation and government."

The Saturday remarks by the Iranian president came during the swearing in ceremony for his second term as president.

Iran's state TV reported that more than 130 high-ranking officials from various countries and international organizations attended the ceremony in Tehran. Among them was EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who coordinates follow-up of Iran's nuclear deal.

OPINION: PRESIDENT TRUMP, IT'S TIME TO DUMP THE IRAN DEAL

It was the first time in Iran's history that a large number of foreign officials attended the president's inauguration ceremony.

"Those who intend to tear down the deal, should know that they are tearing down their political life," said Rouhani, without elaborating.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly described the nuclear deal as "bad" and during his campaign vowed to dismantle it.

Trump signed a bill Wednesday that imposes mandatory penalties on those involved in Iran's ballistic missile program and anyone who does business with them.

It would also apply terrorism sanctions to Iran's prestigious Revolutionary Guard and enforce an arms embargo. Iran has vowed to respond if the bill becomes law.

NEW SANCTIONS ARE 'BREACH' OF NUCLEAR DEAL, IRAN SAYS

However, Rouhani said his administration will maintain its "moderate" behavior in response to any verbal challenge.

"We prefer peace to war and reform to rigidness," said Rouhani. Rouhani, 68, a moderate cleric who secured re-election on May 19, promised that his country will pursue a "path of coexistence and interaction with the world."

He vowed that in his second term in office, Iran will "insist on constructive engagement with the world more than before." Rouhani was first elected in 2013 with nearly 51 percent of the vote.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei formally endorsed him for his second term as president on Thursday. Rouhani has to announce his new cabinet members to Parliament within 14 days. It is expected that he will do this on Tuesday.

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Iran vows 'unified' response to breach of nuclear deal | Fox News

Photo An American Super Hornet fighter jet during an aviation exhibition in Bangalore, India, in 2011. Credit Aijaz Rahi/Associated Press

WASHINGTON An unarmed Iranian drone buzzed an American Super Hornet fighter jet as it circled an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, Defense Department officials said on Tuesday.

A statement released by the militarys Central Command said that despite repeated radio calls demanding that Iran keep the drone clear of American flight operations in the vicinity of the aircraft carrier Nimitz, the Iranian vehicle came within 100 feet of the fighter jet, which had to swerve to avoid a collision.

At the time of the incident, the jet had been in a holding pattern and was planning to land on the carrier, the statement said.

The dangerous maneuver created a collision hazard and is not in keeping with international maritime customs and laws, the statement said. The American military said this was the 13th unsafe or unprofessional interaction between American and Iranian maritime forces this year.

In June, the United States downed two Iranian-made drones that the Pentagon said were approaching American-backed troops on the ground in Syria. There have been a series of clashes in a potential proxy war in Syria that has pitted Iranian-backed militias that support President Bashar al-Assad against Syrian fighters who have been trained by American, British and other coalition military advisers.

In the Persian Gulf, there have been an increased number of close calls and incidents as the United States has stepped up assistance to Saudi Arabia and other allies fighting Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.

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Iranian Drone Buzzes US Fighter Jet Over Persian Gulf - New York Times

Hassan Rouhani presented his list of Cabinet nominees for all but one of the 18 minister roles on Tuesday.

The exclusion of women from the proposed list was widely expected, though appointing a female minister was a central promise made by Rouhani during the election campaign.

During his first term, the moderate president appointed several female vice-presidents, which are lower ranking roles than ministers, but are still members of cabinet. Rouhani's predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appointed the Islamic republic's only female minister, Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi, as health minister in 2009.

Al-Monitor's Iran Pulse Editor Mohammad Ali Shabani said there had been hope that "Rouhani would not reconstitute the taboo broken by Ahmadenijad."

"We're talking about a grander clash about the vision of women's role in society," he said.

But Shabani added that Rouhani is first and foremost a pragmatist who is keen on building bridges with hardliners.

"I think (Rouhani) is trying to convey a message to his opponents that in terms of values we are the same," he said.

Rouhani's new proposed Cabinet has yet to be approved by Parliament, but the list includes two prominent ministers from his first term: Minister of Foreign Affairs Javad Zarif and oil minister Bijan Zanganeh. The key appointments suggest Rouhani will continue with foreign and economic policies that center on opening up the country and seeking investment.

The President won a landslide re-election on May 19, after campaigning largely on social reform. His campaign also touted the merits of the nuclear deal with the United States, the European Union and other partners.

Rouhani was sworn in for a new term on Saturday. In an address in front of more than 100 foreign dignitaries, he accused the US of undermining the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and the major world powers.

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Iran: No female ministers in Rouhani's proposed cabinet list - CNN

The U.S. and Iran, rival powers in Middle Eastern affairs, are once again working together to combat the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) via local allies, this time in the barrens of the Lebanese-Syrian border. Their cooperation follows a previous, reluctant understanding in Iraq.

In the latest grouping, the U.S.-backed Lebanese army is set to storm ISIS outposts tucked inthe mountains of Ras Baalbek that separate Lebanon from Syria, where a civil war between the government and rebels has allowed jihadists and other militants to threaten regional security. Iran has been amajor supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his armed forces, bolstering their ranks with its Lebanese ally, Shiite Muslim militant movement Hezbollah. While considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., Hezbollah has proven an effective force against fighters with both ISIS and Al-Qaeda, and appears poised to join the fight. As a final showdown looms, Lebanon has prepared for a deadly confrontation.

Related: Trump didn't know what Hezbollah was; militant group responds by saying U.S. stands with ISIS

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"We are approaching a time that will see blood and martyrs," Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil told families living in the town of Qaa, where ISIS recently shelled Lebanese army positions, according to The Daily Star.

Lebanese army soldiers take part in a parade at a military academy marking the 72nd Army Day in Fayadyeh, near Beirut, August 1, 2017. The Lebanese army and Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah have a complex relationship, but both have sought to secure the country's borders from jihadists attempting to enter from Syria. Aziz Taher/Reuters

The Lebanese army has repeatedly denied that Hezbollah would participate in the operation. The force reportedly received about $80 million in equipment and training from the U.S. last year, boosting the total in the past decade to nearly $1 billion. The U.S. has been extremely critical of Hezbollah's participation in the Lebanese government, where the group forms one of the largest political parties. President Donald Trump referred to Hezbollah as a "menace" during a press conference late last month with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, another political opponent of Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, however, has already made a sizable contribution to the upcoming offensive against ISIS. Late last month, the Lebanese fighters teamed up with the Syrian military to launch a dual assault on militants loyal to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly known as the Nusra Front of Al-Qaeda, holed up near the border village of Arsal. The roughly week-long operation ended with a ceasefire and total expulsion of the jihadists into rebel-held territory in northwestern Syria. Following the victory, Hariri said Hezbollah "has accomplished something and what's important is the result," according to LBC News.

In a televised address to his supporters, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said Friday his group would hand overparts of Arsal its fighters were stationed in at the army's request and thanked allies Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Assad and Iran for their support in the battle. Contradicting statements from the Lebanese army and Hariri, Nasrallah said his forces would begin a parallel offensive against ISIS from the Syrian side of the border, using the Arabic-language acronym for the group, Daesh.

"The Lebanese army will be responsible for the operation against Daesh, but the request for American aid is an insult to the Lebanese army," Nasrallah said, according to Lebanon'sEl Nashra.

"We in Hezbollah are at the service of the Lebanese army while on Lebanese territory," he added. "Meanwhile, Hezbollah and the Syrian army will open a Syrian front against Daesh. Its timing is in the hands of the Lebanese army, and we are ready."

A Hezbollah fighter stands in front of anti-tank artillery at the barrens of Arsal, near the Syria-Lebanon border. The Lebanese Shiite Muslim militant group's success has paved the way for an upcoming Lebanese army assault on Islamic State militant group (ISIS) positions nearby Ras Baalbek and Hezbollah said it would play a role from Syria. Ali Hashisho/Reuters

The alignment of U.S. and Iranian tactical interests in Lebanon mimics that in Iraq, where both countries devoted extensive resources to battling ISIS despite significant political differences. After evolving out of Al-Qaeda in Iraq's insurgency against the U.S. military and local Shiite Muslims, ISIS managed to take nearly half the country before spreading into neighboring Syria. The U.S. responded by forming an international coalition to launch airstrikes against the jihadists while at the same time supporting the Iraqi military and Kurdish forces on the ground. Iran stepped in by backing a number of majority-Shiite Muslim militias known collectively as the Popular Mobilization Forces.

As in Lebanon, the sectarian nature of the forces involved in Iraq has sparked concerns as to how the country will be governed post-conflict. The central governmentin Baghdad continues to hold political power, but recognition of the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces as an official military wing of the state and Kurdish calls for independence in the north have given rise to uncertainties about the nation's stability after more than 14 years of consecutive warfare.

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US and Iran Work Together Against ISIS, This Time in Lebanon - Newsweek