National Security Advisor John Bolton ridiculed the Obama administration’s reasoning for signing the Iran nuclear deal in a Thursday op-ed for The Washington Post.…
National Security Advisor John Bolton ridiculed the Obama administration’s reasoning for signing the Iran nuclear deal in a Thursday op-ed for The Washington Post.
“The theory behind the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, was that the Iranian regime would, in the interests of its own people, trade its nuclear ambitions for economic incentives,” Bolton wrote, adding “but rather than focusing on behaving responsibly, Tehran has poured billions of dollars into military adventures abroad, spreading an arc of death and destruction across the Middle East from Yemen to Syria.”
The national security advisor took direct aim at the Obama administration’s reasoning that Iran would liberalize over time and not elect to pursue a nuclear weapons program when the deal’s provisions expire.
Bolton’s op-ed follows President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal. Trump signed a memorandum Tuesday to reimpose devastating economic sanctions on Iran in a bid to force the regime back to the negotiating table for a new agreement.
The president has long railed against the 2015 nuclear agreement, noting its lack of perpetual ban on a nuclear program and how it fails to address the Islamic Republic’s malignant activity across the Middle East.
“This was a horrible deal that should never, ever have been made,” Trump declared.
