Iran deal pullout brews trouble

US President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on the Middle East country on Tuesday. The deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was signed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France), Germany and Iran in Vienna on July 14, 2015, after 18 months of negotiations, and immediately approved by the Security Council.

Iran suspended its nuclear weapons program in exchange for the international community withdrawing some of its sanctions against the country. Although the deal allows Iran to retain its nuclear potential and is thus not restrictive enough, it prevents Teheran from crossing the nuclear threshold to develop nuclear weapons. In a way, the deal preempts another war and sets an example for future nuclear nonproliferation negotiation.

Among the six world powers that signed the deal, the US was the only one hostile toward Iran. So its consent was critical. Former US president Barack Obama, determined to leave behind a diplomatic legacy of peace, changed his stance on the Iranian nuclear issue and agreed to the deal. In the process, he even offended his allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia.