The U.S. Withdraws From the Iran Nuclear Deal 

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States would withdraw from a deal it reached with Iran in 2015 regarding the Middle Eastern nation’s nuclear program. The agreement—signed by the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and Iran—is aimed at preventing Iran from being able to develop nuclear weapons. In return, the U.S. and its allies agreed to lift economic sanctions that had been crippling Iran’s economy.

“This was a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,” Trump said at the White House in announcing his decision. “It didn’t bring calm, it didn’t bring peace, and it never will.”

The deal, reached after more than two years of intense negotiations, was one of President Barack Obama’s signature foreign policy achievements. Among other things, it requires Iran to ship most of its nuclear materials out of the country and allow international inspectors to regularly monitor all aspects of its nuclear program.

Obama and other supporters of the agreement have long said that it’s our best hope at preventing Iran from building nuclear weapons. But critics, including President Trump, say the deal isn’t tough enough to keep Americans safe, in part because most of its restrictions end by 2023. Trump also insists that Iran’s leaders can’t be trusted to keep up their end of the bargain. (International inspectors, however, have found no evidence of major violations.)

Still, Trump says the deal isn’t in the best interests of the American people. His announcement of a withdrawal fulfills a long-held campaign promise to dismantle the agreement, which he has called the “worst deal ever.”

But experts say Trump’s decision will isolate the U.S. from its European allies, who have vowed to honor the deal with or without the U.S.    

“France, Germany, and the United Kingdom regret the U.S. decision to get out of the Iranian nuclear deal,” President Emmanuel Macron of France wrote on Twitter shortly after Trump’s announcement.

In addition to the U.S., many countries in Europe and the Middle East see Iran as extremely dangerous—and do not want it to be able to build nuclear weapons.

One reason is that Iran supports Hezbollah and Hamas, two groups that the U.S. and other nations consider terrorist organizations. Iran also backs Syria’s authoritarian president, Bashar al-Assad, in that nation’s bloody civil war. In addition, Iran’s leaders have repeatedly threatened Israel, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, calling for the country to be “annihilated” and “wiped off the map.”

Many world leaders are concerned that if Iran obtains nuclear weapons, other countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt, will try to develop them as well. That could lead to an arms race, with potentially devastating consequences. 

While many people cheered the deal when it was reached, critics say it was flawed from the start. In addition to its being in effect only for a certain number of years, its strict focus on nuclear weapons did not prevent Iran from other dangerous behavior, some of its critics say. 

“My own view is it’s a flawed deal, and we can do better,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican.

Shortly after Trump’s announcement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel—a longtime opponent of the 2015 deal—thanked the president for his “bold decision” in withdrawing from the agreement.

“Israel has opposed the nuclear deal from the start,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement. “We said that rather than blocking Iran’s path to a bomb, the deal actually paved the path to an entire arsenal of nuclear bombs, and within a few years' time.”

Leaders from the U.K., France, and Germany, however, say they are committed to the deal. They say the agreement is accomplishing its goal and should be left as is. 

In pulling out of the agreement, the U.S. is now preparing to reinstate economic sanctions on Iran—and impose new penalties.

But experts say Trump’s decision could affect much more than just the nuclear agreement. The international reputation of the U.S. may be on the line, especially because its major allies disagree with Trump’s move.

Experts also fear that backing out of the agreement may make it harder for the U.S. to negotiate other international deals in the future. For example, President Trump is set to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un this summer about dismantling the Asian country’s nuclear program.

Trump, however, dismissed that concern. He told reporters that his expected meeting with Kim will take place soon and that exiting the Iran deal is simply proof that he keeps his promises.

He called on Iran’s leaders to come back to the negotiating table to create a new deal. (President Hassan Rouhani of Iran said on Tuesday that he would be willing to negotiate with European countries, as well as Russia and China, about remaining in the agreement.)

“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 Iranian deal is defective at its core.” 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Why did President Trump decide to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal?

2. How have U.S. allies responded to his announcement?

3. Why do some people want the U.S. to stay in the deal?

4. What reasons do critics of the Iran deal give for opposing it?