Our live coverage has ended. Scroll through the posts below to read about Trump’s announcement.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said UK, France and Germany support the US’ objectives on the Iran Deal.
But Mnuchin said the US has “slightly different views as to how to execute that.”
The President, he said, has been clear about his thoughts on the deal.
Watch the moment:
Saudi Arabia says it “supports and welcomes” President Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Iran deal, and backs his plan to reinstate sanctions on the regime.
Saudi Arabia, in a statement, also said:
A senior State Department official acknowledged to reporters the US did not discuss any “Plan B” with European partners ahead of President Trump’s announcement Tuesday that the US would be pulling out of the Iran nuclear agreement.
The official said that while the US and European partners made a “ton of progress” in attempting to reach a supplemental agreement that would satisfy President Trump ahead of the May 12?waiver deadline, they were not able to resolve the sticking point presented by the sunset issue.
The same official said sanctions would be implemented in two phases with the intention of giving countries and companies time to adjust:
All JCPOA-related sanctions waivers are pulled today, including those that were set to expire on July 11, so today is the start of both “wind down” periods.
Two senior State Department officials said talks are ongoing with European allies and the US still hopes to reach a comprehensive deal on countering Iran’s malign activities through a “global effort,” but the officials did not rule out secondary sanctions targeting European companies.
“We do think that, given the (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’) penetration of the Iranian economy and Iran’s behavior in the region, as well as its other nefarious activities, that companies should not do business in Iran,” one of the officials said. “That’s an?intended?consequence.”
The officials said the US believes the Iran nuclear deal has given Iran room to increase its so-called “malign activities” in the Middle East since it was reached in 2015.
Former Vice President Joe?Biden reacted today to President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran deal, calling it “a profound mistake.”
“It will isolate the United States from nearly every major world power,” he said in a statement. “It will weaken our credibility and global leadership. It will allow Iran to garner international sympathy while doing nothing to reduce its harmful activities across the Middle East.”
Here’s Biden’s statement:
“All it will likely accomplish is to put Iran back on the path to a nuclear weapon with no clear diplomatic way out. This wholly unnecessary crisis could ultimately put the safety of our country and our fellow citizens, including thousands of men and women in uniform serving across the Middle East,?at risk?by setting us back on a path to war with Iran.
We should continue to work with our allies and partners to counter?Iran’s ability to subvert Israel and other partners in the region. However, the deal provided a long-term check on?Iran’s pathways to a nuclear bomb, buying us critical time and space to address the regime’s other destabilizing activities.
The fact is that the agreement has been working to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The International Atomic Energy Agency says so. Our allies in Europe say so. Even the Trump administration has consistently certified Iran’s compliance, a fact confirmed by now-Secretary of State Pompeo’s testimony just last month.
Talk of a “better deal” is an illusion. It took years of sanctions pressure, painstaking diplomacy, and the full support of the international community to achieve that goal. We have none of that in place today.
President Trump’s decision will do the opposite of what he says he intends.?It will free up Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon and ultimately force us into a binary choice between engaging in a new military conflict or living with a nuclear-armed adversary, both of which pose grave national security risks. And it puts us at odds with our closest European allies, who repeatedly urged the United States to honor the agreement.
As a result, President Trump has manufactured a crisis for his own political interests that puts us on a collision course not only with an adversary but also with our closest partners. It is just the latest example of how President Trump’s notion of “America First” will leave America more alone and less secure.”
President Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Iran deal sparked outrage from Democrats and at least some criticism from his own party.
Here’s what lawmakers are saying:
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an told CNN that he fears that “new crises” will break out in the Middle East as a result of the US abandoning the Iran deal.
“We don’t need new crises in the region,”?Erdo?an told CNN’s Becky Anderson, adding that President Trump’s decision is not just going to impact the region, but the entire world.
Erdo?an said Trump’s move will put the entire world economy at stake.?
“That is the reason why as Turkey, we will be hit … and the United States might?gain some certain positivity out of the withdrawal of this…or the rising oil prices … but many of the countries, in poverty, will be hit even harder and deeper,” he said.
When asked if he has concerns of a geopolitical war breaking out as a result, Erdo?an said, “that’s not what we would wish to see, of course … this is not what we’d like to?expect.”
Erdo?an said Trump should have respected the agreement, signed by the previous administration.?
“This is not how the international mechanisms work,” he said. “International covenants and international conventions, cannot be annulled upon will. If?any document?is bearing your signature, you need to respect that. You need to abide by that.”
Republican Sen. Jeff Flake told CNN’s Jake Tapper today that he doesn’t think President Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Iran nuclear deal is “a wise move.”
“I just don’t think that it’s a wise move,” the Arizona lawmaker said.
Flake said he does not believe the country is safer as a result of the action.
The US State Department issued a security warning for American citizens on Tuesday, urging them to “consider carefully” when traveling to the Golan Heights “until the situation stabilizes.”
The State Department employees must also seek permission before traveling to the Golan Heights, situated in northern Israel, right next to Syria.
Israel opened up bomb shelters in the Golan Heights on Tuesday evening after the defense forces said “irregular activity of Iranian forces in Syria” was detected.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is also on high alert in the area, and defense systems have been deployed.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said he had ordered the country’s “atomic industry organization to be fully prepared for subsequent measures if needed so that in case of need we will start our industrial enrichment without limitations.”
Rouhani spoke live on television following President Trump’s announcement that the US was withdrawing from Iran nuclear deal.
Barack Obama, who was president when the Iran deal was negotiated in 2015, released a lengthy statement, calling Trump’s decision to withdraw from the deal “misguided.”
“We have been safer in the years since we achieved the?JCPOA,” referring to the deal’s official title, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Here’s part of his statement:
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was asked whether Democratic lawmakers would support the idea of the Senate possibly implementing sanctions against Iran.
“I don’t know how the plan works by dividing our allies. What do you do with the (International Atomic Energy Agency)? How are you really going to enforce these sanctions with other countries??I just don’t see a concrete plan emerging.”
Schumer said he asked Vice President Mike Pence earlier today lots of questions about the deal, but “didn’t get good answers.”
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran will take a few weeks to decide how to respond to the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran deal.?
Rouhani added that with the US withdrawal, the agreement now existed between Iran and five other countries.?
He said Iran would abide by its commitments while it consults with the other signatories to the JPCOA.?Rouhani also accused Trump of conducting psychological warfare against the Iranian people and said Iran would not allow him to triumph in exerting economic pressure on the country.
Former secretary of state John Kerry said President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran deal “weakens our security” and “breaks America’s word.”
He tweeted his full statement:
Kerry was reportedly trying to save the deal. He met with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif at the United Nations in New York two weeks ago, their second meeting in about two months, to discuss ways of keeping the deal limiting Iran’s nuclear weapons program intact, according to two sources familiar with the interactions.
The former secretary of state also met last month with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, separately sat down with French President Emmanuel Macron and spoke on the phone with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, the sources told CNN.
Russia is “disappointed” in US President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran deal,?Dmitry Polyansky,?a deputy Russian ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters today.
When asked if Russia will call a UN Security Council meeting regarding the US decision, he said, “all the options are on the table.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May?said she “regrets” the US withdrawal from the Iran deal in a joint statement with the UK, Germany and France.?
A Downing Street spokesperson said:
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the US failed to live up to its international commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran deal.?
Rouhani, speaking in a live television address from Tehran, added that the agreement was not a bilateral agreement between the United States and Iran, but rather a multilateral international agreement endorsed by the UN Security Council.
In a briefing with reporters following President Trump’s remarks on exiting the Iran deal, national security adviser John Bolton reiterated Trump’s message: “We’re out of the deal, we’re out. We’re out of the deal.”?
Bolton argued that the decision will have broader implications for US national security, saying the withdrawal sends a message to Kim Jong Un ahead of their meeting.
“Another aspect of the withdraw that was announced today was to establish positions of strength for the United States and it will have implications not simply for Iran but the forthcoming meeting with Kim Jong Un in North Korea, sends a very clear signal that the United States will not accept inadequate deals,” he said.
The Treasury Department will be taking “immediate action” to implement President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.
The agency said sanctions will be reimposed subject to certain 90-day and 180-day wind-down periods. Once the wind-down period has finalized, sanctions will come back into full effect. Those sanctions include both the US primary and secondary sanction authorities.
“We will continue to work with our allies to build an agreement that is truly in the best interest of our long-term national security,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement.?
He said the US will cut off Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ access to capital to fund Iranian malign activity, including:
There are increasing concerns Iran is on the cusp of an attack against Israel, several US military officials tell CNN.
Intelligence is not clear on when an attack could come and what form it would take, these officials tell CNN.?
The US is watching very closely to see if Iranian-backed actions could come from inside Syria or Lebanon, or even from inside Iran itself, though that would be considered a major military escalation.
The Israeli army has instructed authorities in the Golan Heights, in the north of the country, to open civilian shelters after detecting what it calls “irregular activity” of Iranian forces in Syria.
In a statement, the army says its troops are on high alert for an attack and defense systems have been deployed. The statement warned that “any aggression against Israel will be met with a severe response.” The statement goes on to say that “the Israeli public should remain attentive to IDF instructions that will be given if necessary.?
The?US-led coalition fighting ISIS inside Syria said today that that they have seen “no change” in behavior of Iranian backed forces inside Syria in recent days.
The European Union’s top diplomat says Europe is “determined to preserve” the Iran deal following President Trump’s decision to withdraw from it.
The EU’s Foreign Minister, Federica Mogherini, said she expects the “rest of the international community to continue implementing the Iran nuclear deal.”?
“The Iran nuclear deal is working and delivering, to ensure Tehran doesn’t develop nuclear weapons,” Mogherini said in Rome.
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin said President Trump’s announcement “is a mistake of historic proportions.”
“The last thing America and the world need right now is a new nuclear threat, he said. “Breaking this deal?increases the danger that Iran will restart its nuclear weapons program, which threatens our ally, Israel, and destabilizes the entire Middle East.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called the Iran decision “dangerous and impulsive.”
“Today is a sad day for America’s global leadership,” she said. “The Trump Administration’s dangerous and impulsive action is no substitute for real global leadership.”
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said Trump “absolutely made the right decision” to leave the Iran nuclear deal.
“This was a terrible deal that only allowed Iran’s bad international conduct to worsen,” she said in a statement.
Here’s the full statement:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel fully supports President Trump’s announcement to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.
His remarks were made in a live television address from Jerusalem after Trump’s address.
French President Emmanuel Macron just tweeted against Trump’s decision to leave the Iran deal.
In another tweet, he added: “We will work collectively on a broader framework, covering nuclear activity, the post-2025 period, ballistic activity, and stability in the Middle-East, notably Syria, Yemen, and Iraq.”
President Trump, before signing a presidential memorandum to begin reinstating US sanctions on the Iranian regime, said his action sends critical message: “The United States no longer makes empty threats.”
Oil prices are making a comeback as President Trump announces the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.
In volatile trading, US crude is down about 1% for the day. It was down as much as 4.4% earlier.
President Trump was asked by a reporter how withdrawing from the deal would make America safer.
His remarks came moments after he announced that the US was pulling out of the Iran deal.
President Trump said his secretary of state Mike Pompeo is currently en route Pyongyang to continue preparations for his upcoming summit with Kim Jong Un.
“Plans are being made,?relationships are building,” Trump said
Pompeo previously traveled to North Korea on Easter weekend for talks.
President Trump, in announcing that the US is pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, said America “no longer makes empty threats.”
President Trump has panned the deal for years.
President Trump called the Iran dead “a great embarrassment to me as a?citizen and to all citizens of?the United States.”
The 2015 Iran deal, negotiated under former President Barack Obama gave Iran relief from sanctions in exchange for limits on its nuclear activities.
President Trump said he will institute the “highest level” of economic sanctions against Iran, and the United States will pull out of the deal.
“In a few moments, I will sign a presidential memorandum to begin reinstating US nuclear sanctions on the Iranian regime. We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction,” Trump said.
President Trump derided the Iran nuclear deal as an embarrassment that gave the regime dollars at the same time it sponsored terrorism.
President Trump used the Israeli argument, which Prime Minister Netanyahu delivered last week, in his argument to step away from the Iran deal, according to a draft of his speech. He does not, of course, mention the flaws and dated argument from Netanyahu.
“Last week, Israel published intelligence documents – long concealed by Iran – conclusively showing the Iranian regime’s history of pursuing nuclear weapons.”
President Trump made the case that Iran has continued to build its nuclear weapons program, a White House aide tells CNN.
“The so-called Iran deal was supposed to protect the United States and our allies from the lunacy of an Iranian nuclear bomb, a weapon that will only endanger the survival of the Iranian regime. In fact, the deal allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium and over time reach the brink of a nuclear blackout.”
“Today, we have definitive proof that this Iranian promise was a lie,” Trump said.
Note: The Director of National Intelligence, Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense have all said in last two months they are complying with the deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s presentation last week on Iran’s nuclear program did not change that assessment.
Some White House officials were caught off guard when Trump announced on Twitter Monday that he was planning to make the announcement today.
Most aides expected him to wait until closer to Saturday, when the May 12 deadline for issuing a waiver?landed.
One US official suggested the timing was moved up so as not to impede on next week’s opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, another move that could cause jitters in the Middle East.
Vice President?Pence is notifying Hill leaders that President Trump will announce withdrawal, according to a senior congressional source.
President Trump’s final?decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal was made over the weekend, according to a person familiar with the discussions, though it was long considered a foregone conclusion inside the White House.
National security adviser John Bolton — an Iran hawk?who nonetheless told people he was committed to providing all options to Trump — offered a variety of paths, including reimposing all sanctions, applying new sanctions or allowing for more time to negotiate with the Europeans.
Trump determined that more time would not bridge disagreements, most pointedly his demand that Iran’s nuclear program be curbed past the current deal’s sunset.
In his talks with Macron and Merkel, Trump left little doubt that he was planning to withdraw, according to Western diplomats. But he insisted he hadn’t made a final decision and kept his plans very close to the vest in the lead-up to today’s announcement.
Almost two-thirds of Americans (63%) believe that the US should not withdraw from the agreement made with Iran to prevent the country from developing nuclear weapons.
Only 29% believe the US should withdraw, according to?a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.
Some more takeaways:
A top Iranian military commander said the country “does not fear US sanctions or military strikes,” state-run news agency FARS news reported Tuesday.
Brigadier General Sardar Hossein Salami, deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Iran is prepared for any potential threats.
“Iran turned out to be a balancing power of policies in the world,” he added.
A senior UK diplomat gave CNN a readout from this morning after the UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s trip to DC. The official was there to try and convince the US to stay in the deal.
In the readout, the foreign secretary said the UK is “deeply pessimistic” ahead of Trump’s announcement at 2 p.m. ET.
Here’s the full readout:
Vice President Mike Pence is the administration official making calls to congressional leaders in advance of the Iran deal announcement early this afternoon, according to GOP sources and a White House source.
Pence is also heading to Capitol Hill to brief members on Iran deal, discuss North Korea and Gina Haspel nomination, a White House official tells CNN.
A senior administration official said most of the work done behind the scenes in recent days leading up to this?decision was for withdrawing from the agreement.
That same official cautions that it’s not final until Trump announces it at 2 p.m. ET.
President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke on the phone today.
A French source familiar with the call described it as “very, very?disappointing.”?
When Macron was in the US a few weeks ago, he urged Trump to remain in the Iran deal.
“My commitment, my action is not to try to convince President Trump to walk away from his campaign’s commitments or to change his mind,” Macron said in April. “I’m not a masochist. I believe that what we should be doing is to try to find an efficient way to build this genuine multilateralism.”
President Trump is expected to announce today that he will allow sanctions to go forward on Iran, a first step toward withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, according to a US official and a person familiar with the plan.
However, the sanctions could take months to go into effect as the US government develops guidance for companies and banks.??
The officials cautioned that nothing is final until Trump makes his announcement from the Diplomatic Room of the White House at 2 p.m. ET.?
The White House is not commenting on the call between President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron or the Trump’s decision on the Iran deal ahead of his announcement.
The price of oil is plunging ahead of President Trump’s announcement on the Iran nuclear deal.
US crude was down as much as 4.4%.
Traders attributed the decline to nervousness that Trump could surprise the market with a less aggressive decision than anticipated. Lighter or delayed sanctions on Iran would allow it to keep shipping oil overseas, holding the price down.
Trump is?expected to announce?that he will allow sanctions to go forward on Iran, a first step toward withdrawing from the nuclear deal, according to a US official and a person familiar with the plan.
Earlier today, stocks opened slightly lower as investors await Trump’s decision on the Iran nuclear deal.?
White House legislative director Marc Short told reporters moments ago that lawmakers would be notified later today of President Trump’s decision on the Iran deal.
“They’ll be phone calls going up to the hill this afternoon,” Short said, without revealing what the decision would be.
He said Trump wants to see Iran end its nuclear program “but also become a nation that is not funding terrorism, not attacking Israel.”
Trump, he said, is “looking for an agreement that brings Iran into the international community.”
President Trump will speak with French President Macron at 10 a.m. ET, an official tells CNN.
When Macron was in the US a few weeks ago, he urged Trump to remain in the Iran deal.
“My commitment, my action is not to try to convince President Trump to walk away from his campaign’s commitments or to change his mind,” Macron said in April. “I’m not a masochist. I believe that what we should be doing is to try to find an efficient way to build this genuine multilateralism.”
Former US secretary of state John Kerry said Trump should “use this agreement, staying in the agreement, and then focus on the missiles and the other things with some sort of a deadline”.?
Kerry argued for the agreement he was instrumental in brokering in 2015: “Our friends are safer if we stay in this agreement. We made an agreement, Iran is living by the agreement, yes we have concerns on the missiles and Yemen and other things, but we should be working on those. The Obama administration made a clear decision that working on those other issues, making progress on those, is easier with in Iran that does not have a nuclear weapon then with an Iran which is working towards one.?
Trump has been teasing his Iran deal decision for days — and he’s brought?former secretary of state John Kerry, who is reportedly trying to save the deal, into the discussion.
On Monday, he tweeted:
He followed up today with this tweet:
What Kerry has been working on
Kerry met with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif at the United Nations in New York two weeks ago, their second meeting in about two months, to discuss ways of keeping the deal limiting Iran’s nuclear weapons program intact, according to two sources familiar with the interactions.
The former secretary of state also met last month with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, separately sat down with French President Emmanuel Macron and spoke on the phone with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, the sources told CNN.
The Iran nuclear deal is a historic 2015 agreement between the US, Iran and other world powers.
The deal took two years to negotiate and is considered a cornerstone of President Barack Obama’s?foreign policy?legacy.
The essential idea behind the deal is that, in exchange for limits on its nuclear activities, Iran would get relief from sanctions while being allowed to continue its atomic program for peaceful purposes.
Some provisions of the 2015 deal: