Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump on Friday signaled that he is unhappy with how things are going in Iran, amid warnings and rumblings that the largely Islamic country may be on the verge of obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“We’re negotiating right now, but we’re not getting to the right action, and we’re not going to see what’s happened for 47 years keep going…the Obama deal was the worst deal, nobody ever saw a deal so stupid,” the president told reporters.
The “Obama deal” the president was referring to was the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) cemented under the leadership of then-President Barack Obama. It was meant to block Iran’s capacity to accrue enriched uranium. In 2018, President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal.
Last summer, the U.S. military carried out a strike on Iranian nuclear development sites in Operation Midnight Hammer. At the time, the White House said that these sites were “completely and totally obliterated.”
Now, just this week, Vice President J.D. Vance said that the White House has seen recent evidence that Iran is attempting to build a nuclear weapon yet again.
On negotiations with Iran, President Trump told reporters on Friday that “they just don’t want to say the key words: ‘We’re not going to have a nuclear weapon…’ and they just can’t quite get there. They want to enrich a little bit. You don’t have to enrich when you have that much oil. So, I’m not happy with the negotiation.”
This newest statement from the president also comes as Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated Iran as a “State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention” on Friday.
“When the Iranian regime seized power 47 years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini consolidated his control of power by endorsing the hostage taking of U.S. embassy staff,” Secretary Rubio said in a statement. “For decades, Iran has continued to cruelly detain innocent Americans, as well as citizens of other nations, to use as political leverage against other states. This abhorrent practice must end.”
He called on the Iranian regime to stop taking hostages and to release all Americans “unjustly detained.” He also encouraged Americans who are currently in Iran to “leave immediately.”
The Department of State early Friday also authorized the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and family members to evacuate the Israel, Gaza, and West Bank areas of the Middle East, citing “safety risks.”