The Atlantic
My
fellow Americans, today I want to update the world on our efforts to prevent
Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. The Iranian regime is the leading state
sponsor of terror. It exports dangerous missiles, fuels conflicts across the
Middle East, and supports terrorist proxies and militias such as Hezbollah,
Hamas, the Taliban, and al-Qaeda.
Over
the years, Iran and its proxies have bombed American embassies and military
installations, murdered hundreds of American servicemembers, and kidnapped, imprisoned,
and tortured American citizens. The Iranian regime has funded its long reign of
chaos and terror by plundering the wealth of its own people. No action taken by
the regime has been more dangerous than its pursuit of nuclear weapons and the
means of delivering them.
In
2015, the previous administration joined with other nations in a deal regarding
Iran’s nuclear program. This agreement was known as the Joint Comprehensive
Plan of Action, or JCPOA. In theory, the so-called Iran deal was supposed to
protect the United States and our allies from the lunacy of an Iranian nuclear
bomb, a weapon that will only endanger the survival of the Iranian regime.
In
fact, the deal allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium and, over time, reach
the brink of a nuclear breakout. The deal lifted crippling economic sanctions
on our end in exchange for very weak limits on the regime’s nuclear activity
and no limits at all on its other maligned behavior, including sinister
activities in Syria, Yemen, and other places all around the world. In other
words, at the point when the United States had maximum leverage, this
disastrous deal gave this regime—and it’s a regime of great terror—many
billions of dollars, some of it in actual cash. A great embarrassment to me as
a citizen and to all citizens of the United States.
A
constructive deal could easily have been struck at the time, but it wasn’t. At
the heart of the Iran deal was a giant fiction that a murderous regime desired
only a peaceful nuclear-energy program. Today, we have definitive proof that
this Iranian promise was a lie. Last week, Israel published intelligence
documents, long-concealed by Iran, conclusively showing the Iranian regime and
its history of pursuing nuclear weapons.
The
fact is, this was a horrible, one-sided deal that should have never, ever been
made. It didn’t bring calm, it didn’t bring peace, and it never will. In the
years since the deal was reached, Iran’s military budget has grown by almost 40
percent, while its economy is doing very badly. After the sanctions were
lifted, the dictatorship used its new funds to build nuclear-capable missiles,
support terrorism, and cause havoc throughout the Middle East and beyond.
The
agreement was so poorly negotiated that even if Iran fully complies, the regime
could still be on the verge of a nuclear breakout in just a short period of
time. The deal’s sunset provisions are totally unacceptable. If I allowed this
deal to stand, there would soon be a nuclear-arms race in the Middle East.
Everyone would want their weapons ready by the time Iran had theirs.
Making
matters worse, the deal’s inspection provisions lack adequate mechanisms to
prevent, detect, and punish cheating—and don’t even have the unqualified right
to inspect many important locations, including military facilities. Not only
does the deal fail to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but it also fails to
address the regime’s development of ballistic missiles that could deliver
nuclear warheads.
Finally,
the deal does nothing to constrain Iran’s destabilizing activities, including
its support for terrorism. Since the agreement, Iran’s bloody ambitions have
grown only more brazen. In light of these glaring flaws, I announced last
October that the Iran deal must be either renegotiated or terminated.
Three
months later, on January 12, I repeated these conditions. I made clear that if
the deal could not be fixed, the United States would no longer be a party to
the agreement.
Over
the past few months, we have engaged extensively with our allies and partners
around the world, including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. We have
also consulted with our friends from across the Middle East. We are unified in
our understanding of the threat and in our conviction that Iran must never
acquire a nuclear weapon.
After
these consultations, it is clear to me that we cannot prevent an Iranian
nuclear bomb under the decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement.
The Iranian deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing, we know exactly
what will happen. In just a short period of time, the world’s leading state
sponsor of terror will be on the cusp of acquiring the world’s most dangerous
weapon. Therefore, I am announcing today that the United States will withdraw
from the Iran nuclear deal.
In
a few moments, I will sign a presidential memorandum to begin reinstating
U.S. nuclear sanctions on the Iranian regime. We will be instituting the
highest level of economic sanction. Any nation that helps Iran in its quest for
nuclear weapons could also be strongly sanctioned by the United States. America
will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail. We will not allow American
cities to be threatened with destruction and we will not allow a regime the
chance death to America to gain access to the most deadly weapons on Earth.
Today’s action sends a critical message. The United States no longer makes
empty threats. When I make promises, I keep them. In fact, at this very moment,
Secretary Pompeo is on his way to North Korea in preparation for my upcoming
meeting with Kim Jong-Un. Plans are being made, relationships are building,
hopefully a deal will happen, and with the help of China, South Korea, and
Japan, a future of great prosperity and security can be achieved for everyone.
As
we exit the Iran deal, we will be working with our allies to find a real,
comprehensive, and lasting solution to the Iranian nuclear threat. This will
include efforts to eliminate the threat of Iran’s ballistic-missile program, to
stop its terrorist activities worldwide, and to block its menacing activity
across the Middle East. In the meantime, powerful sanctions will go into full
effect. If the regime continues its nuclear aspirations, it will have bigger
problems than it has ever had before.
Finally,
I want to deliver a message to the long-suffering people of Iran: The people of
America stand with you. It has now been almost 40 years since this dictatorship
seized power and took a proud nation hostage. Most of Iran’s 80 million
citizens have sadly never known an Iran that prospered in peace with its
neighbors and commanded the admiration of the world. But the future of Iran
belongs to its people. They are the rightful heirs to a rich culture and an
ancient land and they deserve a nation that does justice to their dreams, honor
to their history, and glory to their god.
Iran’s
leaders will naturally say that they refuse to negotiate a new deal. They
refuse and that is fine. I probably would say the same thing if I was in their
position. But the fact is they are going to want to make a new and lasting
deal, one that benefits all of Iran and the Iranian people. When they do, I am
ready, willing, and able. Great things can happen for Iran and great things can
happen for the peace and stability that we all want in the Middle East. There
has been enough suffering, death, and destruction. Let it end now. Thank you.
God bless you.
The White House
My comment:
Thank you President Trump for withdrawing from the Iran
nuclear deal. Finally someone found the guts to stand up to the spineless
Europeans and show that the Iran deal’s sunset clause was so absurd that it
alone justified quitting the deal. Now the US and Israel have to educate the rest
of the world and quote Bernard Lewis’s warning
“For people with this mindset, Mutually Assured Destruction.
is not a constraint; it is an inducement...”
