Exiting the Iran nuclear deal is the right move

Dan Simpson, a former U.S. ambassador, faults President Donald Trump for “exiting the Iran deal” (May 16 column, “Trouble All Over the World”). I believe that Mr. Trump did the right thing to withdraw from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and I respectfully beg to differ with Mr. Simpson.

Mr. Trump has made plenty of mistakes, but in this instance, he acted decisively and in a timely manner. Here are three good reasons:

First, the JCPOA failed to ensure a robust framework to keep Iran from ever going nuclear. The sunset clauses in the agreement left the door wide open for Iran to go nuclear 10 to 15 years down the road.

Second, the JCPOA was negotiated without the presence of the countries actually being threatened: the Sunni Arab nations and Israel, all endangered by a fanatic Iranian regime. The six powers (plus the European Union) that framed the deal understood that those countries would never acquiesce to an agreement that did not ensure the end of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and so deliberately excluded them from negotiations. (This was not the case with the negotiations with North Korea, which included South Korea and Japan at the table.)

Third, I believe the JCPOA negotiators used the treaty for business opportunities with no real intention of stopping Iran. The $374 billion Iran economy, as Mr. Simpson notes, was undoubtedly a tempting incentive.

Now, Mr. Trump and Congress have an opportunity to remedy the flawed sunset clauses in the JCPOA and to enlist the backing of the interested parties. EMIL RUDERFER

Oakland