Summary: The US has withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal, and this announcement comes at a time when Iran is predicted to attack Israel, according to CNN. Officials who spoke with CNN said they are not sure when and what form the attack would take place, but it is imminent.
“It is clear to me that we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement,” Trump said. “The Iran deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing we know exactly what will happen.”
Trump said he plans to issue new sanctions on Iran and that any country that helps Iran obtain nuclear weapons would also be sanctioned.
“This was a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,” the President said. “It didn’t bring calm, it didn’t bring peace, and it never will.”
Although Trump said the Iran nuclear deal was one-sided, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats have said that Iran had been adhering to the terms, which were created during President Barack Obama’s administration. Now that the US has ended the agreement with Iran, Iran could technically begin constructing nuclear weapons to use.
CNN stated that the sanctions against Iran would take months to go into effect, and these sanctions had been lifted in 2015 as part of the Iran nuclear deal, which stated that sanctions would be lifted on Iran if they agreed to halt their nuclear program.
On Tuesday, Trump said that he was open to renegotiating the terms with Iran, but it is uncertain what will happen to foreign investments in Iran now that the deal has ended.
Before Tuesday’s announcement, Trump announced on Twitter that he had planned to make the announcement. Trump also spoke with President Emmanuel Macron of France on Tuesday and said that he was planning to withdraw, according to the New York Times.
The New York Times said that Trump’s decision could alienate the US from its allies such as China and Russia, who were part of the Iran nuclear deal. It could also affect the US’s relationships with European countries.
“Mr. Trump’s decision unravels the signature foreign policy achievement of his predecessor, Barack Obama, isolating the United States among its allies and leaving it at even greater odds with its adversaries in dealing with the Iranians,” the New York Times said. “Mr. Trump’s decision, while long anticipated and widely telegraphed, plunges America’s relations with European allies into deep uncertainty. They have committed to staying in the deal, raising the prospect of a diplomatic and economic clash as the United States reimposes stringent sanctions on Iran…It also raises the prospect of increased tensions with Russia and China, which also are parties to the agreement.”