During an appearance on today’s edition of NBC’s “Meet the Press” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, explained President Donald J. Trump’s goal in dealing with Iran is to hold Iran accountable — to get them to stop doing things such as their threats, remaining the number-one state sponsor of terrorism, their ballistic missile tests that they continue to do, and all the trouble they’re causing around the world. You can see the entire list of Iran’s threats as well as the core elements of President Trump’s new Iran strategy here.

President Obama’s so-called nuclear deal with Iran was an incentive for Iran to stop doing certain things. Iran hasn’t stopped doing these things, so what do we do to make Iran more accountable?

Ambassador Haley agrees with General Dunford and General Mattis said, that in reference to what the I.A.E.A. is doing and the inspections seen so far, Iran is in compliance.

When Asked by host Chuck Todd what message does that send to North Korea if the United States walks away from Obama’s Iran deal, Haley replied that the whole reason we’re looking at this Iran agreement is because of North Korea  — don’t let Iran become the next North Korea:

AMB. NIKKI HALEY: When you look at the fact that 25 years of botched agreements and negotiations and accountability not kept by North Korea, that’s the whole situation that got us to where we’re having to watch day by day to see if they do an I.C.B.M. test going forward.

What we’re saying now with Iran is don’t let it become the next North Korea. So what this says to North Korea is, “Don’t expect us to engage in a bad deal. And also, if at any point we do come up with something, expect us to follow through with it. Expect us to hold you accountable. You’re not just going to have a free-for-all.”

[. . .] We’re not going to just give you a lot of money and say, “Go have a good time.” We’re going to basically say, “Look, this is a deal. You either comply with it or you don’t.”

When Todd asked Haley if it is  better to keep Obama’s Iran deal or get rid of it, Haley replied you’re going to see us stay in the deal:

I think right now, we’re in the deal to see how we can make it better. And that’s the goal. It’s not that we’re getting out of the deal. We’re just trying to make the situation better so that the American people feel safer.

Todd also asked Haley about alleged “escalating tensions” between herself and other members of the administration, which Haley dismissed as drama or “palace intrigue.”