On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. will be walking out of the Iran nuclear deal because the regime clearly is a leading state sponsor of terror. Criticizing the Obama administration, Trump said that a constructive deal could have been struck at the time, but it wasn’t.
“The heart of the Iran deal was a giant fiction,” he asserted, adding that Iran has been actively pursuing nuclear weapons despite signing an agreement.
Besides the U.S., the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) includes the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Union, Russia, China, and Iran. Trump pulling out of the deal will also potentially hurt the relationship with America’s allies.
Former secretary of state and 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton took to Twitter to strike back at Trump. She called his withdrawal a “big mistake.”
As secretary of state, Clinton helped negotiate the crippling international sanctions that brought Iran to the table.
“It would be much harder a second time, now that our credibility is shot. It makes America less safe and less trusted. Iran is now more dangerous. What’s plan B? Anyone who thinks bombing is the answer is woefully misinformed,” Clinton said, adding that it will be even harder for the U.S. and the world to deal with other threats like ballistic missiles and terrorism.
“Now we have no leverage and Iran is free to do what it wants,” she added.
Sure, Trump is sacrificing American leadership and credibility, damaging our alliances, and reigniting a nuclear crisis that may spell war in the Middle East — but at least he can stick it to that uppity black guy who used to sit at his desk. #IranDeal https://t.co/yp9BdyzuQZ
— Derek Johnson (@derekjGZ) May 8, 2018
Former President Barack Obama, who Trump blamed for the “horrible, one-sided” deal, took to social media to clarify his stance. Obama emphasized that the JCPOA wasn’t just an agreement between his administration and Iran. The decision to lift the sanctions was reached after years of building an international coalition, he said.
Obama said that it’s important to review several facts about the JCPOA. His statement suggested that Trump’s decision to withdraw from the agreement was not based on logical reasoning.
Contrary to Trump’s remarks about Iran not being inspected, Obama said that the JCPOA ensures that Iran undergoes regular inspections and verifications, and their nuclear facilities are strictly monitored.
He said that Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement also meant putting the JCPOA at risk without any Iranian violation of the deal. Trump’s decision to walk out of the deal is a “serious mistake,” said Obama.
