Trump Goes Rogue on Iran

Donald Trump has railed against the Iran nuclear deal since it was agreed to in 2015. As a candidate, he said undoing it would be a top priority as president. As president, he’s called it one of the worst deals ever. The UN General Assembly session in September was a chance for him to make his case to the world and persuade allies to get behind an effort to rewrite the accord and impose stricter controls on Iran. Yet after a week of speeches, backroom negotiations, and top diplomatic meetings, the U.S. appears more isolated and its allies more united around the importance of the agreement. The week also exposed the administration’s internal division over Iran—and disdain for the details of the accord.

On Sept. 20 at the UN, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson laid out to European and Iranian leaders all the things Trump hates about the nuclear deal, chiefly that its main restrictions do nothing to address such issues as Iran’s development of ballistic missiles, its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and its backing of terrorism in the region. After the meeting, it became clear the two sides were talking past each other. France and Germany insist the agreement, imperfect as it is, does what it intended to do. Iran’s nuclear program is contained, so why blow up the deal? The U.S. says by focusing on the details, its allies are missing the bigger picture. While grudgingly admitting Iran is meeting the letter of its obligations, Tillerson has resorted to arguing that the nation is “clearly in default” of the accord’s preamble calling for progress toward regional peace and stability.