Trump Announces Withdrawal from Iran Deal
Trump Cites Debunked Israeli Claims as Justification
U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced withdrawal of the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a.k.a. “the Iran Deal” at a press conference this afternoon at the White House. The President justified the move based on “definitive proof” provided through intelligence documents published by the apartheid State of Israel last week “conclusively showing the Iranian’s regime and its history of pursuing nuclear weapons.” (That’s a direct quote of the President, so don’t shoot the messenger.)
The President made this statement despite the fact that the International Atomic EnergyAgency (IAEA) issued a statement that the documents released by Israel regarding the Iranian nuclear weapons program did not reveal anything new. This is the second time that the IAEA has called Washington’s bluff regarding Iran. When President Trump announced the shift in U.S. policy regarding Iran last year, claiming that Iran was failing to “honor the spirit of the deal”, the IAEA issued a statement soon after stating that Iran was in compliance with the terms of the JCPOA.
Trump Leaves Door Open to a “New Deal”
The President, once again, accused Iran of being “the leading state sponsor of terror”, but failed to provide any details to back up the allegation. He also criticized the JCPOA deal with giving Iran “many billions of dollars, some of it in actual cash”, but failed to mention the fact that the money was part of a settlement reached to reimburse Iran for Iranian money that the U.S. seized after the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution. A misharacterization that the President has been making about the Iran Deal since the 2016 campaign trail.
However, President Trump did leave open the door to making a new deal, stating that “they [meaning the Iranian government] are going to want to make a new and lasting deal” and that when they do he is “ready, willing and able”. After completing his statements, the President signed a memorandum to reinstate economic sanctions against Iran in the presence of the White House Press Corp. The President stepped out just as one reporter asked kind of a message this sends to North Korea, with whom the President has upcoming negotiations regarding its nuclear program.
About the JCPOA
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is an agreement reached by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. At the time the United States, under then President Barack Obama, was saber-rattling against Iran. The U.S. changed its tone shortly after Iran successfully hacked a U.S. spy drone and the JCPOA was born. The agreement sets out rigorous mechanisms for monitoring limits on Iran’s nuclear program, while paving the way for lifting UN sanctions against the country.
One thing that continues to go unmentioned regarding Iran is that United States, the United Kingdom, Russia and France have all interfered with Iran’s sovereign right to self-determination by violating it’s territorial and political sovereignty at some point in the last century. They also all possess nuclear weapons.
Related:
- Five Quick Facts About Iran That the U.S. Wants You to Ignore
- IAEA Chief Says Iran in Compliance With JCPOA
- Inconvenient Truth About Iran Nuclear Deal
Resource Links:
- Ceasing U.S. Participation in the JCPOA and Taking Additional Action to Counter Iran’s Malign Influence and Deny Iran All Paths to a Nuclear Weapon, The White House [Press Release], May 8, 2018
- President Trump Gives Remarks on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [Video], May 8, 2018
- Israel’s claims about Iran’s nuclear weapons program rejected as IAEA releases statement, ABC News, May 2, 2018
- Why the U.S. Owed Iran That $400 Million, Time, August 5, 2016
- Iran shows ‘hacked US spy drone’ video footage, BBC, February 7, 2013
- What the Media Won’t Tell You About Iran, Really Graceful, November 22, 2017
