Tag: Iran treaty

Trump’s claim that Iran could build nuclear weapons in seven years

The following article by Salvador Rizzo was posted on the Washington Post website May 8, 2018:

President Trump is vastly over simplifying what Iran can do seven years after the nuclear deal was implemented. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“In seven years, that deal will have expired, and Iran is free to go ahead and create nuclear weapons. That’s not acceptable. Seven years is tomorrow.”
— President Trump, discussing the Iran nuclear deal in a White House news conference, April 30, 2018

Trump has never liked the Iran nuclear deal and may decide to withdraw the United States from further participation. The president says he will announce his decision Tuesday.

Whatever he decides, Trump said, the international agreement would expire in seven years anyway, and Iran would be able to build nuclear weapons. Continue reading “Trump’s claim that Iran could build nuclear weapons in seven years”

How killing the nuclear deal could make it easier for Iran to pursue the bomb in secret

The following article by Joby Warrick was posted on the Washington Post website May 8, 2018:

The Post’s Alan Sipress and Karen DeYoung explain how President Trump’s decision might affect an already tense Middle East. (Sarah Parnass, Joyce Lee/The Washington Post)

VIENNA — In the three years since the start of the Iran nuclear agreement, a cluster of buildings near the Austrian capital has served as an unblinking eye over Tehran’s most sensitive factories and research labs. But perhaps not for much longer.

Every day, workers arrive at the United Nations nuclear agency here to monitor live video from inside Iran’s once-secret uranium enrichment plants, part of an unbroken stream of data delivered by cameras and other remote sensors installed as part of the 2015 accord. Each week, scientists in lab coats analyze dust samples collected from across Iran, looking for minute particles that could reveal possible cheating. Continue reading “How killing the nuclear deal could make it easier for Iran to pursue the bomb in secret”

Fact-checking President Trump’s speech on the Iran deal

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website October 14, 2017:

President Trump announced Oct. 13 that his administration would take new steps going forward to confront Iran. (The Washington Post)

In his speech on the Iran nuclear agreement, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), President Trump made a number of factual assertions. The deal was negotiated by Iran, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France and China), Germany and the European Union.

Here’s a guide to some of his rhetoric, in the order in which he made these statements. Continue reading “Fact-checking President Trump’s speech on the Iran deal”

Iran nuclear deal: Global powers stand by pact despite Trump threat

The following article was posted on the BBC website October 14, 2017:

Global powers, including key US allies, have said they will stand by the Iran nuclear deal which US President Donald Trump has threatened to tear apart.

Mr Trump said on Friday that he would stop signing off on the agreement.

The UK, France and Germany responded that the pact was “in our shared national security interest”. The EU said it was “not up to any single country to terminate” a “working” deal.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said the US was “more isolated than ever”. Continue reading “Iran nuclear deal: Global powers stand by pact despite Trump threat”

‘He threw a fit’: Trump’s anger over Iran deal forced aides to scramble for a compromise

The following article by Anne Gearan was posted on the Washington Post website October 11, 2017:

President Trump spoke about the agreement with Iran on their nuclear program when meeting with military leaders on Oct. 5. (The Washington Post)

President Trump was livid. Why, he asked his advisers in mid-July, should he go along with what he considered the failed Obama-era policy toward Iran and prop up an international nuclear deal he saw as disastrous?

He was incensed by the arguments of Secretary of State Rex ­Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and others that the landmark 2015 deal, while flawed, offered stability and other benefits. He did not want to certify to Congress that the agreement remained in the vital U.S. national security interest and that Iran was meeting its obligations. He did not think either was true. Continue reading “‘He threw a fit’: Trump’s anger over Iran deal forced aides to scramble for a compromise”