{"slug":"trump-withdrawal-iran-nuclear-deal-jcpoa","title":"JCPOA Withdrawal: Abandoning the Iran Nuclear Deal Over Allied Objections","date":"2018-05-08","lastUpdated":"2020-01-03","description":"On May 8, 2018, Trump announced the United States would withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran — and reimpose sanctions. The decision was opposed by the UK, France, Germany, the EU, Russia, and China (all co-signatories), as well as U.S. military leaders and intelligence officials who had testified that Iran was complying with the agreement. Following the withdrawal, Iran progressively abandoned JCPOA limits on uranium enrichment, eventually enriching uranium to 60% and 84% purity (weapons-grade is 90%).","summary":"The JCPOA had halted Iran's path to nuclear weapons by removing sanctions in exchange for verifiable limits on enrichment. The IAEA had certified Iranian compliance in each of its inspections. Trump characterized the deal as 'the worst deal ever made' and the withdrawal as correcting an Obama-era mistake. European allies, who had spent years negotiating the agreement, tried unsuccessfully to persuade Trump to stay in. Following the withdrawal, Iran accelerated its nuclear program, enriched uranium to higher levels than were permitted before the JCPOA, and the U.S. assassination of General Qasem Soleimani in January 2020 brought the two countries to the brink of direct military conflict.","category":"foreign-policy","severity":"critical","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/world/middleeast/trump-iran-nuclear-deal.html","title":"Trump Abandons Iran Nuclear Deal He Long Scorned","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-to-withdraw-from-iran-nuclear-deal/2018/05/08/story.html","title":"Trump withdraws from Iran nuclear deal","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/trump-iran-nuclear-deal-withdrawal","title":"Trump pulls out of Iran nuclear agreement","publisher":"The Associated Press"},{"url":"https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/iaea-director-general-on-jcpoa","title":"IAEA Director General: Iran compliance with JCPOA","publisher":"International Atomic Energy Agency"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["Iran","JCPOA","nuclear","foreign-policy","first-term","sanctions","nonproliferation"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2015-07-14","title":"JCPOA signed — Iran nuclear agreement","summary":"The JCPOA is concluded between Iran and the P5+1 (U.S., UK, France, Germany, Russia, China plus EU). Iran agrees to halt enrichment above 3.67%, reduce stockpile, and allow IAEA inspections in exchange for sanctions relief."},{"date":"2018-05-08","title":"Trump withdraws from JCPOA","summary":"Trump withdraws the U.S. from the JCPOA, announcing reimposition of sanctions. The IAEA has certified Iranian compliance in every inspection. All co-signatories oppose the withdrawal."},{"date":"2019-01-01","title":"Iran begins exceeding JCPOA limits — enrichment accelerates","summary":"Iran progressively abandons JCPOA limits in response to U.S. withdrawal, beginning to enrich above the 3.67% cap and increasing stockpiles. European partners attempt to maintain the deal framework."},{"date":"2020-01-03","title":"U.S. assassinates Soleimani — Iran launches missiles at U.S. bases","summary":"The U.S. kills IRGC General Soleimani in Baghdad. Iran launches ballistic missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq. 110 U.S. service members are diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries."},{"date":"2023-01-01","title":"Iran enriches uranium to 84% — near weapons-grade","summary":"IAEA inspectors detect uranium particles enriched to 84% at an Iranian facility — near the 90% weapons-grade threshold. Iran's breakout timeline to a bomb has shortened from over a year under the JCPOA to weeks."}],"location":{"name":"Washington, D.C.","lat":38.9072,"lng":-77.0369},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons","article":"NPT framework","provision":"JCPOA withdrawal removed the multilateral verification and restriction framework that had halted Iran's path toward nuclear weapons capability under NPT obligations"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Regional security and nonproliferation regime through Iran's accelerated nuclear program; U.S. allies whose diplomatic investments in the JCPOA were abandoned; Iranian civilians affected by reimposed sanctions","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President; withdrew from JCPOA despite IAEA certification of Iranian compliance and over the objections of all co-signatories and U.S. military leaders","institution":"White House"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2020-01-03","summary":"Updated with Soleimani assassination and Iran missile response."}]}}