Following President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would be imposing sanctions on Iran, severely hampering the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal – also known as the Iran Deal – former president, Barack Obama issued a statement decrying Trump’s action.
In the statement, Obama touted the merits of the JCPOA and called Trump’s actions “misguided.” Obama’s statement, issued less than an hour after Trump’s May 8 announcement, is significant in many ways, most notably because the former president has largely remained silent on most Trump policies.
“There are few issues more important to the security of the United States than the potential spread of nuclear weapons, or the potential for even more destructive war in the Middle East. That’s why the United States negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in the first place,” said Obama in his statement. “The reality is clear. The JCPOA is working – that is a view shared by our European allies, independent experts, and the current U.S. Secretary of Defense. The JCPOA is in America’s interest – it has significantly rolled back Iran’s nuclear program. And the JCPOA is a model for what diplomacy can accomplish – its inspections and verification regime is precisely what the United States should be working to put in place with North Korea. Indeed, 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.”
For those reasons, Obama said pulling out of the Iran Deal is the wrong decision.
“That is why today’s announcement is so misguided,” said Obama. “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.”
Allies such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom have all appealed to Trump to not pull out of the agreement. Obama said Trump’s actions are based off of limited and misinformed information.
“Debates in our country should be informed by facts, especially debates that have proven to be divisive,” said Obama. “So it’s important to review several facts about the JCPOA. The JCPOA was not just an agreement between my administration and the Iranian government. After years of building an international coalition that could impose crippling sanctions on Iran, we reached the JCPOA together with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Union, Russia, China, and Iran. It is a multilateral arms control deal, unanimously endorsed by a United Nations Security Council Resolution.
Despite Trump’s claims that the JCPOA was a “horrible” deal for the U.S., Obama said the deal was made in the best interest of the U.S. and the world.
“The JCPOA has worked in rolling back Iran’s nuclear program. For decades, Iran had steadily advanced its nuclear program, approaching the point where they could rapidly produce enough fissile material to build a bomb. The JCPOA put a lid on that breakout capacity,” said Obama in his statement. “Since the JCPOA was implemented, Iran has destroyed the core of a reactor that could have produced weapons-grade plutonium; removed two-thirds of its centrifuges (over 13,000) and placed them under international monitoring; and eliminated 97 percent of its stockpile of enriched uranium – the raw materials necessary for a bomb. So by any measure, the JCPOA has imposed strict limitations on Iran’s nuclear program and achieved real results.”
While acknowledging the deal still left unresolved issues, Obama said the Iran Deal is far greater than the alternative of moving forward without a deal in place.
“The JCPOA was never intended to solve all of our problems with Iran. We were clear-eyed that Iran engages in destabilizing behavior – including support for terrorism, and threats toward Israel and its neighbors,” said Obama. “But that’s precisely why it was so important that we prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Every aspect of Iranian behavior that is troubling is far more dangerous if their nuclear program is unconstrained. Our ability to confront Iran’s destabilizing behavior – and to sustain a unity of purpose with our allies – is strengthened with the JCPOA and weakened without it.”
Obama said Trump’s decision puts us all at risk of a nuclear-armed Iran.
“Because of these facts, I believe that the decision to put the JCPOA at risk without any Iranian violation of the deal is a serious mistake,” said Obama. “Without the JCPOA, the United States could eventually be left with a losing choice between a nuclear-armed Iran or another war in the Middle East. We all know the dangers of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. It could embolden an already dangerous regime, threaten our friends with destruction, pose unacceptable dangers to America’s own security and trigger an arms race in the world’s most dangerous region. If the constraints on Iran’s nuclear program under the JCPOA are lost, we could be hastening the day when we are faced with the choice between living with that threat or going to war to prevent it.”
