Skip to main content

May 8, 2018

Trump's 2018 Iran deal withdrawal led to current nuclear crisis

Axios
Responsible Statecraft
Arms Control Association
ABC News
commonslibrary.parliament.uk
+3

How killing diplomacy created the crisis Trump now "solves" with bombs

President Donald Trump announced U.S. withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on May 8, 2018, calling the deal “a giant fiction” and reimposing all nuclear-related sanctions (Wikipedia JCPOA; ABC News Analysis)

The International Atomic Energy Agency verified Iran’s full compliance with JCPOA limits through May 2018, with no enrichment above 3.67% or covert weapons activities reported (Wikipedia JCPOA; Arms Control Center)

By 2024, Iran reduced its nuclear breakout time from over one year under the JCPOA to approximately 3–4 months by expanding centrifuge operations and increasing its uranium stockpile (Arms Control Center; ABC News Analysis)

Iran’s oil exports plunged from over 2.5 million barrels per day before May 2018 to under 500,000 bpd by 2019 as a direct result of the “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign (Responsible Statecraft; Wikipedia JCPOA)

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom established the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX) to facilitate humanitarian trade with Iran while avoiding U.S. secondary sanctions (Wikipedia JCPOA; Responsible Statecraft)

🛡️National Security📜Constitutional Law🌍Foreign Policy

Ready to test your knowledge?

Take the full quiz to master this topic and track your progress.

Start Quiz

What you can do

1

Examine IAEA verification reports on Iran’s nuclear activities through May 2018 by visiting the public archive at https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/iran (IAEA)

2

Review all Iran-related sanctions reimposed on May 8, 2018 via the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control: https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/sanctions-programs-and-country-information/iran-sanctions (Treasury.gov)

3

Study the operational framework of INSTEX by accessing the European External Action Service summary at https://www.eeas.europa.eu/instex_en (EEAS)