On Tuesday President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the international nuclear accord with Iran which may result in additional conflict in the Middle East. The withdrawal, besides upsetting European allies, is also expected to cast uncertainty over global oil supplies, Reuters reported.
President Trump, in a televised address from the White House, stated that he would reimpose U.S. economic sanctions on Iran in order to undermine “a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made.”
The 2015 deal between Iran, the U.S., Germany, France, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and the European Union offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbing its nuclear program.
A raft of crippling U.S. sanctions against Iran was lifted as part of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which imposed restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program. The deal allows the U.S. to waive these sanctions every 120 days as long as it believes Iran is adhering to the terms of the agreement.
Trump regularly complained that the accord, which marks the signature foreign policy achievement of his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, did not address Iran’s ballistic missile program, its nuclear activities beyond 2025 or its role in conflicts in Yemen and Syria.
According to Reuters, Trump’s decision intensifies the strain on the trans-Atlantic alliance since he took office 16 months ago.
During the last month, several European leaders came to Washington and attempted to change the U.S. President’s decision hoping the deal will be preserved. However, by last week it was already becoming increasingly clear to some diplomats that Trump’s decision can’t be changed.
“We felt like we were going through the motions,” said a person close to the negotiations.
Even Trump’s top aides had not been attempting to aggressively talk with Trump because his mind had already been made up, a White House official said.
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