President Trump declared on Tuesday that he was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, unraveling the signature foreign policy achievement of his predecessor Barack Obama, isolating the United States from its Western allies. The decision, while long anticipated and widely telegraphed, leaves the 2015 agreement reached by seven countries after more than two years of grueling negotiations in tatters. The United States will now reimpose the stringent sanctions it imposed on Iran before the deal and is considering new penalties.
In 2015 in Vienna, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) well known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal was finalized. It was an international agreement on the nuclear program of Iran reached between Iran, the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States—plus Germany), and the European Union.
As it was not a bilateral agreement between Iran and US, there are certain procedural formalities that need to be fulfilled before the US can pack up and leave. On the other side, Britain, France and Germany have pledged to remain in the Iranian nuclear deal despite Donald Trump pulling America out of the agreement. In a joint statement the countries expressed regret and concern over the decision and urged Iran to show restraint in its response. Hassan Rouhani, the president of Iran, said that the country would remain in the deal as discussions with allies take place over the next “few weeks”. He said he has directed Iranian diplomats to negotiate with the deal’s remaining signatories, including European countries, Russia and China. But he also warned that Iran would resume enriching uranium at higher levels if the benefits of remaining a part of the pact were unclear.
Iran said it will remain in the deal, which tightly restricted its nuclear ambitions for a decade or more in return for ending the sanctions that had crippled its economy. Iran maintains that it was complying with the conditions attached with JCOPA and Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the agreement is unjustified. Recently, leaders of North and South Korea held talks and it was being considered a major step towards peace in the region. But another absurd decision of US President that even its allies are criticizing has affected a deal that was result of the two years negotiations. It seems that Israel has driven the US to take this decision as both countries are planning to contain growing influence of Iran in the region.
