America nixes Iran deal
Trump to reinstate economic sanctions
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has withdrawn the United States from a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and five other world powers, isolating the country from its closest European allies, putting the agreement on life support and setting up a new showdown with Tehran over its nuclear work.
Following remarks from the White House Diplomatic Room, Trump signed a presidential memorandum that immediately levies the “highest level of economic sanction” on Iran over its nuclear activity – a move that will put the US in violation of core provisions in the agreement, which traded global sanctions relief on Tehran in exchange for temporary caps and dismantling of its nuclear infrastructure.
The entire agreement is now imperiled, as European officials expressed dismay when pressed on a path forward, and Iranian leaders promised a “severe response” that might include their own withdrawal from the pact.
“It is clear to me that we cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement– the Iran deal is defective at its core,” Trump said in his speech. “I am announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.”
“America will not be held hostage by nuclear blackmail,” he added.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani responded in a speech to the nation saying Tehran would, for now, remain within the accord and would negotiate with Russia and China – “the world’s two superpowers”– on a path forward. But he said Iran would prepare to resume uranium enrichment as a contingency.
“Iran is a country that adheres to its commitments,” Rouhani said, “and the US is a country that has never adhered to its commitments.”
The US president said that intelligence published last week by the Israeli government, which revealed an Iranian archive documenting their experimentation with nuclear weapons technology up until 2003, offered “definitive proof” that the premise on which the Iran deal was clinched was “a lie.”
“The fact is, this was a horrible, one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,” he said. “A constructive deal could easily have been struck at the time. But it wasn’t. At the heart of the Iran deal was a giant fiction.”
Trump emphasized the need for a deal that would address Iran’s development of ballistic missiles – the “means of delivering” nuclear warheads; its “totally unacceptable” sunset clauses, which end caps on Iran’s enrichment of fissile
material necessary for atomic bombs; and UN inspector access to Iran’s military sites, which have historically hosted some of Tehran’s most sensitive nuclear weapons activity.
“The agreement was so poorly negotiated that even if Iran fully complies, the regime could still be on the verge of a nuclear breakout in just a short period of time,” Trump said, warning of a nuclear arms race across the Middle East should the deal remain intact. “Everyone would want their weapons ready by the time Iran had theirs,” he said.
Trump’s presidential memorandum directs the secretaries of state and treasury to reimpose “all US sanctions lifted or waived in connection” to the deal “as expeditiously as possible,” and the secretary of defense to “prepare for regional contingencies” in the event Iran reacts militarily “against the United States, our allies and our partners.” It makes clear the US is fully ceasing compliance with the agreement. White House officials said that sanctions would be phased in and effect both pending and existing contracts over a period of 180 days.
Before the JCPOA, the US was implementing broad sanctions – mandated by Congress and by executive order – targeting individuals and entities involved in Iran’s nuclear program. The harshest of these sanctions had a “secondary,” extraterritorial impact, by challenging European and Chinese businesses engaged in Iran to choose between the Iranian and American marketplaces. The EU has reportedly prepared for this contingency by readying emergency credit lines for EU businesses already investing in Iran since the nuclear agreement. WHILE WHITE House officials declined to discuss caseby-case waivers, they suggested these sanctions, too, would go back into effect, potentially setting up new fronts in trade wars with both, after Trump has already authorized tariff hikes major product imports from EU and China.
Iran has abided by the terms of the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, since it was implemented in 2016. But the Trump administration and other critics believe Iran has done so because the deal structurally favors them. On the front end, Tehran received a windfall of sanctions relief, and on the back end, the ability to grow the size and efficiency of their nuclear infrastructure.
Earlier in the day, US Vice President Mike Pence briefed congressional Republicans on Trump’s plans. Republican and Democratic leaders alike have lobbied the president against a withdrawal from the deal absent allied support.
Indeed, France, Britain and Germany have in recent weeks lobbied Trump to remain in the deal to no avail, and their leaders spoke by phone on Tuesday ahead of Trump’s remarks to coordinate their response. One European official described the response they received from the State Department as the “deafening silence of US diplomats running for cover” from explaining Trump’s strategic plan.
A joint statement from the three European countries underscored their commitment to the deal and called on the US not to “obstruct” its implementation by other parties.
“We call on the US to do everything possible to preserve the gains for nuclear non-proliferation brought about by the JCPOA, by allowing for a continued enforcement of its main elements,” the statement reads, and “encourage Iran to show restraint in response to the decision by the US.”
The Europeans said they would work to ensure that Iran continues to receive the sanctions relief to which “they are entitled” in exchange for Iran continuing to abide by the accord. But they also said they would continue to work toward a larger deal that addresses Trump’s concerns with the existing pact, including its sunset clauses.
“He’s prepared to look at discussions on a much broader resolution,” National Security Adviser John Bolton told reporters on Tuesday, calling the deal “utterly inadequate.”
“We’re out of the deal,” Bolton said. “We’re out of the deal. We’re out of the deal.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US would seek to forge a deal with its allies that addresses the totality of its concerns with Iran’s behavior – an ambitious deal, which according to the French and British, could have been built upon the existing agreement.
“As we exit the Iran deal, we will be working with our allies to find a real, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Iranian threat. We have a shared interest with our allies in Europe and around the world to prevent Iran from ever developing a nuclear weapon. But our effort is broader than just the nuclear threat,” Pompeo said.
“As we build this global effort, sanctions will go into full effect and will remind the Iranian regime of the diplomatic and economic isolation that results from its reckless and malign activity.”
The deal allows Iran to refer the US action to the UN Security Council and to the JCPOA Joint Commission – comprised of Russia, China, Iran, Britain, France, Germany, the EU and the US – for review. If neither body can resolve the matter, and if the action is determined to constitute “significant noncompliance,” then Iran is freed by the deal to restart its nuclear work “in part or in whole.”
The US withdrawal and potential collapse of the nuclear accord is a striking blow to the legacy of former president Barack Obama, who considered the deal his crowning foreign policy achievement. In response, he issued a rare, lengthy statement on Tuesday warning of dire consequences to America’s standing in the world as a credible and reliable negotiating partner, and to the future security of the Middle East.
“I believe that the decision to put the JCPOA at risk without any Iranian violation of the deal is a serious mistake,” Obama said. “Without the JCPOA, the United States could eventually be left with a losing choice between a nuclear-armed Iran or another war in the Middle East.”
“We all know the dangers of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. It could embolden an already dangerous regime; threaten our friends with destruction; pose unacceptable dangers to America’s own security; and trigger an arms race in the world’s most dangerous region,” he continued. “If the constraints on Iran’s nuclear program under the JCPOA are lost, we could be hastening the day when we are faced with the choice between living with that threat, or going to war to prevent it.” •