WASHINGTON — Critics and defenders of the nuclear deal with Iran are equally in the dark about President Donald Trump’s intentions ahead of the next congressionally mandated deadline to certify Tehran’s compliance Oct. 15.

The arrival of White House Chief of Staff John Kelly a month ago, combined with the subsequent departure of Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon, his bombastic deputy Sebastian Gorka and several hawkish National Security Council officials aligned with Bannon, have reduced access to the president for those advocating outright abandoning the deal. Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general, has imposed strict protocols, requiring that any information going to the president be submitted first for review by White House staff secretary Rob Porter. Kelly has also stopped the Oval Office open-door policy, limiting who can gain access to the president’s ear.

A senior White House official told Politico that Kelly's goal is essentially that the “president has to get good briefings, he has to get good intelligence.” The official said, “We have to be putting him in a position to make good decisions.”

Indeed, former US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton this week complained in an article outlining his plan for quitting the Iran nuclear deal that he had been denied permission to present his proposal to Trump.