President Donald Trump said Monday that a potential agreement with Iran would be “FAR BETTER than the JCPOA,” referring to former President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Tehran.
“The DEAL that we are making with Iran will be FAR BETTER than the JCPOA, commonly referred to as ‘The Iran Nuclear Deal,’ penned by Barack Hussein Obama and Sleepy Joe Biden, one of the Worst Deals ever made having to do with the Security of our Country,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, arguing his approach would prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensure broader regional security.
Trump also pointed to the unfreezing of Iranian assets and past financial transfers, while suggesting any arrangement under his administration would differ in structure and outcome. CNN reported Friday that the Trump administration was considering unfreezing $20 billion in Iranian assets, an amount far higher than Obama greenlit as part of that deal.
“It was a guaranteed Road to a Nuclear Weapon, which will not, and cannot, happen with the Deal we’re working on,” Trump went on. “In addition, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars was paid to Iran. If I did not terminate that ‘Deal,’ Nuclear Weapons would have been used on Israel, and all over the Middle East, including our cherished U.S. Military Bases,” the president added.
The Obama-era Iran nuclear deal was brokered in 2015 and aimed to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. It involved reducing centrifuges and uranium stockpiles, with international inspections.
Trump abandoned the deal and reimposed sanctions in 2018. Before then, the UN nuclear watchdog reported, Iran was abiding by the limits in the deal, in which it pledged never to acquire nuclear weapons.