Petraeus: We pull out of Iran deal, we likely isolate ourselves more than Iran

Former CIA Director David Petraeus said Wednesday that if the U.S. decides to nullify the 2015 deal between Iran and six major powers, the move would likely isolate the U.S. more than it does Tehran.

Trump has called the agreement “the worst deal ever negotiated.” Reuters reported that the Trump administration is reviewing the deal, which could take months.

Petraeus, now a chairman of the KKR Global Institute, made the remarks at the Montgomery Summit, a tech investors meeting in Los Angeles. Petraeus pointed to some positives from the deal, including the reduction of Tehran’s atomic activities.

Yukiya Amano, the head of the U.N. agency monitoring the Iran nuclear deal, said Monday that he emphasized the benefits of the pact in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. He said he is confident his message was heard.

The issue is important because Trump promised to "tear up" the pact during campaigning, saying it fell short of the aim of sufficiently crimping Tehran's nuclear programs.

Amano said he told Tillerson last week that because of the deal the IAEA now has the "strongest verification" tools to monitor Tehran's atomic activities. As well, he said, "the nuclear activities of Iran are reduced."

The Associated Press contribute to this report