John Bolton: Donald Trump Has Not Yet Made a Decision on the JCPOA

The National Security Advisor to the President of the United States says that Donald Trump has not yet made a decision regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). John Bolton stated on Sunday, April 28, to Fox News that "he (Trump) has not yet made a decision about the nuclear agreement (with Iran), whether to stay in this agreement or withdraw from it." He noted that the U.S. President will "certainly" consider the framework proposed by Emmanuel Macron, his French counterpart, which is based on "four pillars." These remarks come as Macron, after several rounds of negotiations with Trump, stated on April 24 that the U.S. President will likely withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Iran due to "domestic issues." The day before, in a joint press conference with Trump, he mentioned that he seeks an agreement that includes four issues: first, preventing any nuclear activities by Iran until 2025, which has been achieved due to the JCPOA; second, ensuring that Iran will not have nuclear activities in the long term; third, stopping Iran's ballistic missile activities in the region; and fourth, creating conditions for a political solution to contain Iran in the region, including Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon. Donald Trump announced on January 12 that he would extend the suspension of sanctions against Iran under the JCPOA for the last time unless "the catastrophic flaws" of the nuclear agreement with Tehran are addressed by his European partners. This deadline ends on May 12. Since his 2016 election campaign, the U.S. President has repeatedly described the JCPOA as a "bad and disgraceful agreement" that, according to him, should not have been signed by the Obama administration. On April 23, he reiterated this view while warning Iranian officials, stating: "I hold many responsible for this bad agreement, including the U.S. Congress and many others, and this agreement should never have been made. But I say if Iran threatens us, it will pay a price that very few countries in the world have paid." Iran and six world powers, including the U.S., Russia, China, France, and the UK, along with Germany, reached a comprehensive agreement in July 2015 to resolve Tehran's nuclear program and lift sanctions. While China and Russia oppose any changes to the JCPOA, the U.S. is calling for fundamental changes, and the three European countries have expressed readiness to add supplements to the agreement to satisfy Washington's concerns about remaining in the JCPOA. However, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has stated that he opposes adding or removing even a word from the nuclear agreement and that Tehran will not accept any limitations regarding its missile program. Donald Trump has set four conditions for the U.S. to continue its participation in the JCPOA: "immediate access" for international inspectors to all Iranian sites and facilities, making the restrictions on Iran's nuclear program permanent, guaranteeing that Iran will not approach nuclear weapons, and limiting Iran's ballistic missile program.