US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis on October 3 told the Senate Armed Services Committee that it currently appears to be in the strategic interest of Washington to remain in the Iran nuclear deal.

The Pentagon chief’s remarks came despite President Donald Trump recently berating the deal in a bellicose address to the UN General Assembly, in which he indicated that he’d like to scrap American participation in the multilateral agreement. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has also previously publicly stated that he is at odds with Trump over whether the agreement, which lifted international economic sanctions against Iran in return for a radical scaling down of its nuclear programme, is worth sticking with. On the other hand, he has argued that Tehran has been breaching the “spirit” of the deal through its actions in conflicts in the Middle East, such as those in Syria and Yemen, and what he sees as Iranian support for terrorism.

Mattis told lawmakers on the Senate committee that if the US “can confirm that Iran is living by the agreement… this is something the president should consider staying with”. However, Mattis added that the Trump administration’s is right to demand a “rigorous” review of the deal.

In testimony before the same committee last month, General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, cautioned against withdrawing from the deal, saying doing so would complicate American efforts to seal further such agreements with other nations.

Iran’s compliance with the deal comes up for its regular 90-day review by the Trump administration in mid-October. Trump could thus decertify American recognition of Iranian compliance by October 15. Mattis said that such a move would not, however, mean automatic American withdrawal from the agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA).

The International Atomic Energy Authority has eight times certified that the Iranians are in compliance with the deal and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has even several times urged that the Iran negotiations that led to the JCPOA be used as model to find a solution to the North Korean crisis.

There is currently speculation that the negotiators who created the JCPOA may be poised to win this year’s Nobel peace prize.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on September 29 called on Europe, Russia and China to remain committed to the nuclear deal with Tehran if the Trump administration pulls out of the agreement. Any subsequent sanctions from the US should be defied, he said.

Two days earlier, Zarif - who rebuked Trump’s speech at the UN as “primeval” -  said Iran was willing to formally accept a tougher nuclear inspection regime in six years. However, he ruled out any renegotiation of the existing nuclear deal. In an interview with Charlie Rose at the Asia Society in New York, Zarif added: “If Congress behaves, in six years from now, we will be ratifying the Additional Protocol, the most intrusive inspection regime that is available… We will become a party to the Additional Protocol, provided the US takes care of its responsibilities.”