Trump Withdraws US from Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA)
President Trump unilaterally withdraws the United States from the 2015 nuclear agreement despite Iranian compliance, re-imposing sweeping sanctions and launching a "maximum pressure" campaign.
On May 8, 2018, President Trump announced the US withdrawal from the JCPOA, calling it a "horrible, one-sided deal" that failed to address Iran's ballistic missile program or its regional proxy network. European allies Britain, France, and Germany urged Trump to remain in the deal, warning the move would undermine multilateral diplomacy and destabilize the region. The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Iran had been meeting its obligations. After the US withdrawal, Trump re-imposed some of the harshest economic sanctions ever levied against any country, targeting Iran's oil, banking, and shipping sectors. Iran initially continued to abide by the deal, but gradually began enriching uranium at progressively higher levels, accelerating its nuclear capabilities dramatically.
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