Kaine says Trump Iran deal exit ‘one of the worst’ foreign policy decisions
WASHINGTON, DC: Sen Tim Kaine has sharply criticized US President Donald Trump for withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, calling it one of the worst foreign policy decisions by an American president.
Speaking on ABC’s ‘This Week’, on Sunday, April 12, Kaine said the move continues to complicate ongoing efforts to negotiate limits on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Kaine says ‘made diplomacy impossible’
“This is not going to be an easy negotiation because the last negotiation that led to control of Iran’s nuclear program, the US made the decision to tear it up,” Kaine said.
He warned that abandoning the agreement could have lasting consequences, adding: “If you make diplomacy impossible, you tend to make war inevitable.”
The JCPOA, negotiated in 2015 under former President Barack Obama, required Iran to scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran shipped out roughly 25,000 pounds of enriched uranium, dismantled a majority of its centrifuges, and allowed extensive international inspections.
US officials at the time described the verification regime as unprecedented, while noting that non-nuclear sanctions remained in place.
Kaine argued that the decision to exit the nuclear deal continues to cast a long shadow over US-Iran relations, making new negotiations more difficult.
Talks between US and Iran ended without results
Kaine’s remarks come as fresh negotiations between US and Iranian officials in Pakistan ended without a breakthrough.
Vice President JD Vance, along with envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner, led the US delegation.
Vance described the discussions as “substantive” but confirmed that no agreement had been reached.
Iranian officials also signalled deep mistrust following the talks. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said US negotiators had failed to win the confidence of their Iranian counterparts.
US President Donald Trump said he expects Iran to return to negotiations and ultimately concede to US demands, even as tensions remain high following failed talks.
“I predict they come back and they give us everything we want,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo, on Sunday, April 12. He stressed that “They have no cards.”
