U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday formally renounced the multinational nuclear agreement with Iran, decrying it as "a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made."
Trump, in remarks from the White House Diplomatic Room, declared that the United States is immediately reinstating all Iran-related sanctions it waived as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Trump then signed a memorandum ordering U.S. agencies to reinstitute all nuclear sanctions on Iran that were waived by Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama.
The JCPOA "didn't bring calm, it didn't bring peace, and it never will," said Trump.
The 2015 pact was struck between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France — and Germany. The deal aimed to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief.
The president asserted that "it is clear to me that we cannot prevent an Iran nuclear bomb" under the pact, adding "the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal" because "America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail."