Trump once dismissed Obama's JCPOA deal as 'horrible', but now he fails to achieve anything remotely close to that
Trump had slammed the Obama-helmed deal for not restricting the Iranian ballistic missile programme, but his own deal fails to address the issue
Former President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the JCPOA, was based on his claim it was a flawed, one-sided agreement that did not address Iran's ballistic missile program, but experts like his predecessor Barack Obama and Congressman Ro Khanna argue that any potential new agreement is unlikely to be a significant improvement and may come at a greater cost to the US, having already incurred significant financial and human losses without achieving regime change, despite Trump's assertions that his deal provides a "WALL TO NO NUCLEAR WEAPON" and neutralizes Iran's nuclear program, while on paper, the outcomes seem comparable to the JCPOA's restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for frozen asset releases, with negotiations having been facilitated by mediators including Pakistan and Qatar who secured a ceasefire extension.
Former President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the JCPOA, was based on his claim it was a flawed, one-sided agreement that did not address Iran's ballistic missile program, but experts like his predecessor Barack Obama and Congressman Ro Khanna argue that any potential new agreement is unlikely to be a significant improvement and may come at a greater cost to the US, having already incurred significant financial and human losses without achieving regime change, despite Trump's assertions that his deal provides a "WALL TO NO NUCLEAR WEAPON" and neutralizes Iran's nuclear program, while on paper, the outcomes seem comparable to the JCPOA's restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for frozen asset releases, with negotiations having been facilitated by mediators including Pakistan and Qatar who secured a ceasefire extension.
Former President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the JCPOA, was based on his claim it was a flawed, one-sided agreement that did not address Iran's ballistic missile program, but experts like his predecessor Barack Obama and Congressman Ro Khanna argue that any potential new agreement is unlikely to be a significant improvement and may come at a greater cost to the US, having already incurred significant financial and human losses without achieving regime change, despite Trump's assertions that his deal provides a "WALL TO NO NUCLEAR WEAPON" and neutralizes Iran's nuclear program, while on paper, the outcomes seem comparable to the JCPOA's restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for frozen asset releases, with negotiations having been facilitated by mediators including Pakistan and Qatar who secured a ceasefire extension.
During his first term, US President Donald Trump shocked the world when he declared the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as a "horrible one-sided deal that should never ever have been made", saying his was withdrawing from Barack Obama's Iran nuclear deal.
Trump also slammed the Obama-helmed deal for not addressing the Iranian ballistic missile programme that could deliver nuclear warheads. Britain, China, Russia, France and Germany were also part of the deal.
Now, several experts and even Trump's predecessor Obama have pointed out that any potential deal to end the Iran conflicct will not mark a "significant improvement" over the JCPOA. "It is doubtful that any agreement that arises is going to be significantly different or a significant improvement from the deal that we had in the first place," Obama said, while speaking on ABC News talk show This Week.
Democrat Congressman Ro Khanna said the war was a costly lesson for the US but failed to bring about regime change and the terms seem no better than what Obama secured under the JCPOA. "America lost 14 precious service members and wasted billions of dollars on this foolish endeavour," he said.
Trump's supporters claim that the US has been negotiating the current deal with a position of leverage. However, much of the negotiations have failed to achieve what JCPOA secured 11 years ago.
Trump himself contrasted the proposed agreement with the 2015 nuclear deal, saying, "Barack Hussein Obama's Deal with Iran, the JCPOA, was an easy, beautiful, smooth road to a Nuclear Weapon, which Iran would have had six years ago, and would have used long before now."
"My Agreement with Iran is the exact opposite, A WALL TO NO NUCLEAR WEAPON! In fact, they no longer want a Nuclear Weapon, nor will they have one, either through purchase, development, or any other form of procurement," he claimed.
He also alleged that Iran's nuclear programme had been effectively neutralised and said the remaining nuclear material would be disposed of at a later stage. "At the appropriate time, when all is calm, we will go in and get the Nuclear Dust, buried deep under the powerful sunken granite mountains, thanks to our beautiful B-2 Bombers and their brilliant pilots, and downblend and destroy it, whether in Iran, or the United States," he said.
However, on paper, Trump's deal is not much different or better compared to the JCPOA. The Obama-helmed deal restricted Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for release of Tehran's frozen assets. Trump is likely to achieve just that, only this time it comes after a costly war and martyrdom of US soldiers. The new deal, an MoU for which was signed on Sunday, also has no mention of restricting Iran's ballistic missile programme. The full text of the deal is expected to be released after the formal signing ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday.
The deal was negotiated through mediators that included Pakistan and Qatar, who initially got a two-week ceasefire agreement on April 8. The ceasefire was extended till the completion of the talks.