Former US President Barack Obama says Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal is “misguided.”
After Trump announced his decision on Tuesday, Obama asserted that it is "so misguided."
"Walking away from the JCPOA turns our back on America’s closest allies, and an agreement that our country’s leading diplomats, scientists, and intelligence professionals negotiated. 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.”
The democratic president, who was in office when the deal was inked in 2015, further suggested that Trump’s decision would undermine efforts to negotiate with North Korea.
“At a time when we are all rooting for diplomacy with North Korea to succeed, walking away from the JCPOA risks losing a deal that accomplishes – with Iran – the very outcome that we are pursuing with the North Koreans,” Obama claimed.
Iran has on numerous occasions asserted that its nuclear program is merely peaceful and not meant to make nukes.
Former Secretary of State John Kerry, who was a top negotiator in the talks that led to the agreement, also censured the move, asserting that it “breaks America's word.”
"Today's announcement weakens our security, breaks America's word, isolates us from our European allies... and reduces our global leverage to address Tehran's misbehavior while damaging the ability of future administrations to make international agreements," Kerry (pictured above) said in a statement. "Instead of building unprecedented nonproliferation verification measures, this decision risks throwing them away and dragging the world to the brink we faced a few years ago."
Russia and China, as the other signatories to the JCPOA, have warned against efforts to scrap the landmark accord and pledged to continue to honor their commitments under the deal.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has been monitoring Iran’s compliance with its commitments under the JCPOA and has consistently verified the Islamic Republic’s compliance.
The Islamic Republic has always insisted that its atomic program is merely for peaceful purposes and that the West is using the nuclear case as a pretext to put pressure on Tehran.