On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump made do of his stance and pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal, bolstering the uncertainty in the Middle East, upsetting its European allies and uncertainty in the world's global oil supplies.
In a televised address from the White House, Trump declared he will reimpose US economic sanctions on Iran to undermine "a horrible one-sided deal that should never, ever been made."
The deal was created in 2015 by the United States, five other world powers - including China - and Iran and set to lift the sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran to limit its nuclear program. It also aims to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb.
However, since he took office, Trump has complained that the deal - signed by his predecessor Barack Obama - did not cover Iran's ballistic missile program, the country's nuclear activities beyond 2025 and its role in the conflicts in Yemen and Syria.
Several European leaders have tried to convince Trump not to withdraw from the deal and tried to meet his demands; but, according to some sources. Trump seemed unmoved and remained firm that he will withdraw from the deal. He did keep the door open to negotiating deals with allies regarding the issue, but it was not clear if the Europeans would be happy with it and if they can convince Iran to support it.
National Security Advisor John Bolton had also said Trump did not withdraw from the agreement until now because "he gave repeated opportunities to try to fix the deal."
Bolton was known, alongside new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to be in favor of getting out of the nuclear deal but did not press their case to the president since Trump had already been decided on the action.
Several leaders in the Middle East, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, had supported the withdrawal.
In response to the decision, the five world powers who supported the deal such as Britain, Germany, China, Russia and France said in a joint statement that Trump's decision was a cause for "regret and concern."
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had also spoken about Trump's decision, citing that Iran will remain in the deal even if Trump has withdrawn the US from it.
Iran has continuously denied accusations that it has built atomic weapons and said that their nuclear program was meant for peaceful purposes. The United Nations have even said that Iran has not broken their part of the deal and several senior US officials themselves have said that Iran has been complying in the pact.
Iran state television had said Trump's decision to withdraw from the deal was "illegal, illegitimate and undermines international agreements."
Former US President Barack Obama also noted that Trump's decision was "misguided" and said in a statement, "I believe that the decision to put the JCPOA at risk without any Iranian violation of the deal is a serious mistake."
With the withdrawal of the US, Iran will now be unable to sell its oil overseas or even use the international banking system. Furthermore, the US Treasury announced that the sanctions on Iran may be reimposed in three to six months.
However, it had triggered the increase of oil prices and Wall Street remained at negative after the announcement. Iran is the third largest member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and supports 4% of the world's global supply.
