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US-Iran exchanges hang in balance as Trump weighs decision on nuclear deal

The State Department has spent no money this year on US-Iran exchanges amid uncertainty over the fate of the nuclear agreement.
URMIEH, IRAN - JANUARY 23:  Iranian university student Vahid Rezaei (R) and his brother Saeed Rezaei collect water samples from the salt-encrusted former lakebed of Iran's shrinking Lake Urmieh, which presents a risk of salt storms and future health and environmental problems on January 23, 2015 in Urmieh, northwest Iran. Once one of the largest salt lakes in the world, it has lost 90 percent of its volume in the past decade and symbolizes the scale of the water crisis facing Iran today. Decades of overuse,

WASHINGTON — There is more riding on US President Donald Trump’s upcoming decision whether to recertify Iranian compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) than the fate of that landmark nuclear deal.

Ever since Trump’s inauguration, the State Department has been sitting on or diverting funds for cultural and scientific exchanges with Iran. More than 500 Iranians have come to the United States on such exchanges since 2006, contributing to mutual scientific advances and creating a foundation for closer bilateral ties between the longtime adversaries.

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