On 8 May 2018, the United States under the first Trump administration announced its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The JCPOA is an agreement on Iran's nuclear program reached in July 2015 by Iran and the P5+1 or the E3+3 and the European Union.
In a joint statement responding to the U.S. withdrawal, the leaders of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom said that the United Nations Security Council resolution endorsing the nuclear deal remained the "binding international legal framework for the resolution of the dispute". Various countries, international organizations, and U.S. scholars have expressed regret about or criticized the withdrawal, while U.S. conservatives, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and their allies have supported it. The withdrawal caused concern in Iran due to its impact on the economy.
On 17 May 2018, the European Commission announced its intention to implement the blocking statute of 1996 to declare U.S. sanctions against Iran illegal in Europe and ban European citizens and companies from complying with them. The commission also instructed the European Investment Bank to facilitate European companies' investment in Iran.
The withdrawal led Iran to take actions contrary to the deal, including stockpiling roughly 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium. Amid negotiations on a potential nuclear deal, Israel and the United States under the second Trump administration launched the 2026 Iran war, citing the Iranian nuclear threat as a rationale.
On 8 May 2018, the United States under the first Trump administration announced its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The JCPOA is an agreement on Iran's nuclear program reached in July 2015 by Iran and the P5+1 or the E3+3 and the European Union.
In a joint statement responding to the U.S. withdrawal, the leaders of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom said that the United Nations Security Council resolution endorsing the nuclear deal remained the "binding international legal framework for the resolution of the dispute". Various countries, international organizations, and U.S. scholars have expressed regret about or criticized the withdrawal, while U.S. conservatives, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and their allies have supported it. The withdrawal caused concern in Iran due to its impact on the economy.
On 17 May 2018, the European Commission announced its intention to implement the blocking statute of 1996 to declare U.S. sanctions against Iran illegal in Europe and ban European citizens and companies from complying with them. The commission also instructed the European Investment Bank to facilitate European companies' investment in Iran.
The withdrawal led Iran to take actions contrary to the deal, including stockpiling roughly 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium. Amid negotiations on a potential nuclear deal, Israel and the United States under the second Trump administration launched the 2026 Iran war, citing the Iranian nuclear threat as a rationale.
Background
In July 2015, China, the European Union, France, Germany, Iran, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States concluded an agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which provided that Iran's nuclear activities would be limited in exchange for reduced sanctions. According to the JCPOA, every 90 days the president of the United States would certify that Iran was adhering to the terms of the agreement, among other things. Leading up to the United States' withdrawal, the IAEA asserted that its inspectors had verified that Iran had implemented its nuclear-related commitments to the agreement. In a letter to then-congressman Mike Pompeo, U.S. State Department assistant secretary for legislative affairs Julia Frifield wrote that the agreement was a political commitment between the parties, "not a treaty or an executive agreement". The JCPOA ended some of the sanctions on Iran while suspending others, subject to waivers, including those of oil sanctions implemented in January 2012, which require periodic recertification.
During his 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign, Donald Trump made the renegotiation of the JCPOA one of his main foreign affairs campaign promises, saying at a rally that it would "be a totally different deal" if he won. Trump called the deal a disaster, "the worst deal ever", so terrible that it could lead to "a nuclear holocaust".
The Trump administration issued certifications in April and July 2017 that Iran was complying with the deal. But in October 2017, Trump announced that the US would not make the certification provided for under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, saying that the suspension of sanctions was not "proportionate and appropriate".
In October 2017, the Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times wrote that America's reputation as a major power would be undermined in the world's eyes if it reneged on a deal simply because of a transition in government. In May 2018, French president Emmanuel Macron warned Trump not to withdraw from the deal, telling Der Spiegel that doing so could lead to war.
In an August 2017 National Review article, former US ambassador to the UNJohn Bolton supported complete withdrawal from the JCPOA and rejected the idea that it could be fixed. As National Security Advisor, he pressed the president to withdraw from the JCPOA. In May 2018, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a presentation at the Israel Ministry of Defense titled "Iran Lied", which some analysts believed influenced Trump to pursue withdrawal. Trump announced just over a week later that the US would withdraw from the deal, calling the Iranian promises a lie. Jarrett Blanc, an Obama administration official, said after the withdrawal that the JCPOA had no formal provisions for withdrawal since it was an agreement between several countries, not a treaty, but a member of the deal could stop complying with its obligations.
At 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. He called the agreement "a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made" and added, "[i]t didn't bring calm, it didn't bring peace, and it never will."
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia supported and welcomed Trump's decision and "supports reinstating economic sanctions on the Iranian regime, which have been suspended under the nuclear deal", according to the official SPA news agency.
Israel: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a live televised address shortly after the announcement of U.S. withdrawal, said, "Israel fully supports President Trump’s bold decision today to reject the disastrous nuclear deal with the terrorist regime in Tehran."
Secretary-General António Guterres said he is "deeply concerned by [the] announcement that the United States will be withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and will begin reinstating US sanctions".
Former president Barack Obama said "the deal was working and it was in US interests."
Former secretary of state John Kerry said that the US should have preserved the deal.
Former national security advisor Susan Rice said it was a "foolish decision".
Former secretary of energy Ernest Moniz said the withdrawal was a "major strategic mistake".
Former deputy secretary of energy Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall said the decision was "a reckless strategic mistake of immense consequence".
Former ambassador to NATONicholas Burns said the disavowal was "reckless and one of the most serious mistakes of his presidency".
Former NSA director, former CIA director, retired USAF four-star generalMichael Hayden said that "Iran is further away from a weapon with this deal than they would be without it".
Senator from VermontBernie Sanders criticized the decision: "Trump's speech today was the latest in a series of reckless decisions that move our country closer to conflict."
Harvard political scientist Gary Samore said that if "President Trump thinks he can crash the nuclear deal, reimpose international economic sanctions, and force Iran to negotiate a better deal, he is mistaken".
Harvard political scientist Graham T. Allison said that it was "a bad choice for the U.S. and bad choice for our ally Israel".
Harvard political scientist Matthew Bunn said that Trump had freed Iran to build up its ability to make nuclear bomb material.
Harvard political scientist Stephen Walt said it was Trump's "most consequential foreign-policy blunder".
Former secretary of state Colin Powell reiterated his longstanding support for the Iran Nuclear Deal, 5/16/2018
Iran: In an official statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared that they were extremely concerned that the United States was repeatedly acting contrary to the opinion of the majority of states and exclusively in its own narrow-minded and opportunistic interests, in flagrant violation of international law.
A Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU "deeply regrets the announcement by US President Trump to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action".
Even though The European Council on Foreign Relations does not take collective positions, several of its Council Members have signed a European Joint Call on the US to "reconsider its approach to the JCPOA".
China: China's Special Envoy on the Middle East Issue, Gong Xiaosheng stated that the People's Republic of China would continue to preserve and implement the comprehensive agreement on Iran's nuclear program, saying that 'dialogue is better than confrontation'.
Former French president François Hollande said that Donald Trump's personality was driven by "its cynicism, its vulgarity and its egocentricity" and, therefore, the only thing he wanted was "to tear up the deal".
The French minister of foreign affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, expressed concern about the political stability of the region, but reaffirmed that the deal was not dead despite the American withdrawal.
Former French minister of foreign affairs Laurent Fabius said the withdrawal was "extremely dangerous for the stability of the Middle East".
Speaking to BBC's HARDtalk, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the U.S. withdrawal problematic and said that "continuity between states is fundamental".
In a meeting with Iranian labor minister Ali Rabie, Finnish minister of labor Jari Tapani Lindström said that Finland is still committed to the nuclear deal.
Portugal regrets the USA's rejection of the Iran nuclear deal and Portuguese minister of internal administration Eduardo Cabrita has affirmed that Portugal will continue to respect the agreement.
Spain pulled a frigate from U.S. Gulf mission due to differences over Iran, accusing the U.S. government of taking "a decision outside of the framework of what had been agreed with the Spanish Navy".
Israel: Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak said Trump's decision made the world "more uncertain".
Diplomatic consequences
Supporting countries
Bahrain's government issued a statement welcoming the withdrawal.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry stated that "Iran used economic gains from the lifting of sanctions to continue its activities to destabilize the region, particularly by developing ballistic missiles and supporting terrorist groups in the region."