Trump withdraws from Iran nuke deal
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of a landmark deal curbing Iran's nuclear program and reimposed crippling sanctions on Tuesday, defying European pleas and prompting international outcry.
Trump poured scorn on the "disastrous" 2015 accord, describing it as an "embarrassment" to the United States that does nothing to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions.
"The United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal," Trump said in an address to the nation from the White House.
Slapping aside more than a decade and a half of careful diplomacy by Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia and past US administrations, Trump called for a "new and lasting deal."
That grand bargain, he said, would have to include not just deeper restrictions on Iran's nuclear program, but on its ballistic missiles and support for militant groups across the Middle East.
"We cannot prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement," he claimed.
"We will not allow American cities to be threatened with destruction and we will not allow a regime that chants 'Death to America' to gain access to the most deadly weapons on Earth."
It remains far from clear if the international community, or Iran, will play along.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani — whose standing at home now risks being undermined by the deal's collapse — was furious, accusing Trump of "psychological warfare."
Rouhani said Iran could resume uranium enrichment "without limit" in response to Trump's announcement, but that it would discuss its response with other parties to the deal before announcing a decision.
Trump's onerous demands and his warning that Iranians deserve better than their current "dictatorship" will only heighten suspicions his ultimate goal is regime change.
"If the regime continues its nuclear aspirations, it will have bigger problems than it has ever had before," he warned.
Hawkish US officials believe that after 38 years in power, Iran's clerical regime is substantially weakened by domestic economic pressure, changing demography, public demonstrations, and costly foreign military adventures.