Story highlights "We're going to stay in," Tillerson said in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper

Tillerson said Iran had committed technical violations of the deal

Washington (CNN) Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Sunday the US is trying to stay in the Iran nuclear deal while hoping to achieve more from it, days after President Donald Trump threatened to pull the US out of the agreement.

"We're going to stay in," Tillerson said in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union," though he left open the possibility that the US could seek another agreement.

"We're going to work with our European partners and allies to see if we can't address these concerns," he added.

Trump on Friday said Iran was violating the agreement and threatened to pull out of the deal, pushing the issue to Congress. Tillerson has said in the past Iran was in "technical compliance" with the deal.

Asked to square these two claims, Tillerson said Iran had committed technical violations of the deal, but that the agreement was structured in a way to give Iran significant time to remedy its violations.

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