Trump announces U.S. withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal, critics call it a ‘mistake’

Update 5:48 a.m. EDT Wednesday: An Iranian lawmaker said "parliament is preparing to increase spending on the country's ballistic missile program" following U.S. President Donald Trump's move to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, The Associated Press reported early Wednesday.

“With America’s decision, Iran’s missile program will not change at all,” Alaeddin Boroujerdi said.

Meanwhile, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Trump "cannot do a damn thing," the AP reported.

Iranian lawmakers also set fire to a paper American flag while chanting, "Death to America," according to the AP.

Also on Wednesday, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement criticizing Trump’s decision.

"We are deeply disappointed with US President's decision to unilaterally withdraw from implementation of obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action #JCPOA on the Iranian nuclear program and to re-impose sanctions against Iran," Russia's Embassy in the U.S. relayed in a tweet.

Update 4:05 p.m.: Former President Barack Obama, whose administration helped broker the Iran deal, is weighing in on the decision to pull out of it.

“There are few issues more important to the security of the US than the potential spread of nuclear weapons or the potential for even more destructive war in the Middle East. Today’s decision to put the JCPOA at risk is a serious mistake,” Obama said in a tweet.

He called Trump’s decision “misguided” and said the deal was working as it was intended to, that “it has significantly rolled back Iran’s nuclear program.”

Obama cited the United States’ European allies, who lobbied Trump to remain in the pact.

“In a democracy, there will always be changes in policies and priorities from one administration to the next. But the consistent flouting of agreements that our country is a party to risks eroding America’s credibility, and puts us at odds with the world’s major powers,” he said.

Under Trump, the U.S. has also withdrawn from the Paris Climate Accord and from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The Trump administration is also renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Update 2:47 p.m.: President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will be leaving the Iran nuclear deal and will not renew the sanctions wavier that was put in place with the deal when it was agreed upon in 2015.

 

Leaving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, will happen in two phases, one that will happen in 90 days, a second that will happen in 180 days, CBS News reported.

While it is being called a withdrawal, experts say it is actually being considered a violation of the international agreement since Iran has been complying with JCPOA, CBS News and other media outlets have reported.

The president explained the move by saying, “The deal allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium and over time reach the brink of a nuclear breakout.”

He called JCPOA “defective at its core.”

Trump, during his campaign, vowed to get out of the JCPOA, CNN reported.

Despite Trump being adamant about pulling out of the JCPOA, European leaders, including French president Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres all told Trump to not get out of the JCPOA, USA Today reported.

They also admitted that the JCOPA was not a perfect agreement and that it needed fixing, USA Today reported.

Trump spoke to Macron and other leaders, in advance of today's announcement, The New York Times reported.

 

The president also announced that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is on the way to North Korea to set up the meeting between Trump and Kim Jon Un over his country's nuclear program, USA Today reported.

Update 1:56 p.m.: Watch President Donald Trump:

Update 1:05 p.m.: About an hour before his scheduled announcement, officials from President Donald Trump's administration started to tell congressional leaders about the plan to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, The New York Times reported.

 

Original story: President Donald Trump will announce whether he plans to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal later today.

The decision, which is expected to be to leave the deal, according to the New York Times, will be announced at the White House at 2 p.m. ET, the president announced Monday via Twitter.

 

Many are calling Trump's decision the "most devastating blow yet on the legacy of Barack Obama," CNN reported.

At the same time it will highlight Trump’s “America First” ideology.

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CNN is reporting that Trump will announce sanctions against Iran as the first step for withdrawing from the Iran Nuclear Deal. But it may take months for the sanctions to actually go into effect, giving allies time to talk Trump into keeping the U.S. in the deal.

The decision comes weeks after the announcement that Trump will sit down with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un to try to convince the country to give up its nuclear weapons, the New York Times reported.

Since the deal with Iran, international inspections have found no major violations and said that minor issues were quickly fixed, the Times reported.

Trump says that the 2015 agreement doesn't touch Iran's ballistic missile program and doesn't permanently prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, Reuters reported.

Those for the agreement say that if Trump would pull out of the agreement it would "undo years of work" that kept Iran from creating nuclear weapons, Reuters reported.

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