US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson attacked a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, saying it only delayed the country’s ambition to gain weapons of mass destruction and didn’t take into account its role in sponsoring terrorism and destabilising other countries n the Middle East. He also said that the Trump administration launched a review of its policy toward Tehran.

“This deal represents the same failed approach of the past,” Tillerson said at a hastily arranged press conference on Wednesday. “The Trump administration has no intention of passing the buck to a future administration.”

Tillerson said the review would not only look at Tehran’s compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal but also its behaviour in the region which he said undermined US interests in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.

His tough words matched those of U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who said in a visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday that Iran's destabilizing influence would have to be overcome to end the conflict in Yemen.

President Donald Trump ordered the review to evaluate whether suspension of sanctions related to the nuclear deal was "vital to the national security interests of the United States," Tillerson said, as reported in Reuters.