President Trump is pushing for the elimination of Iran's atomic weapons material, but the current size of that stockpile traces directly back to his own foreign policy decisions.
In 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the Obama-administration nuclear agreement with Iran, famously calling it the worst deal ever negotiated. The move triggered a dramatic shift in Tehran's behavior. Iran responded by launching an aggressive enrichment campaign that has defined nuclear negotiations in the years since.
The enrichment spree set off by Trump's withdrawal has proven difficult to reverse. As Trump now seeks to push Iran toward nuclear disarmament, he confronts the direct consequences of his earlier rejection of the accord. The stockpile he wants abolished grew substantially because of the space his withdrawal created.
The paradox highlights how foreign policy decisions ripple forward unpredictably. Trump's 2018 calculation that he could pressure Iran through withdrawal and maximum economic pressure instead accelerated the very nuclear advancement he now aims to curtail. The enrichment program Iran launched in response to the U.S. exit has become a central obstacle in bringing Tehran back to the negotiating table on nuclear matters.
Efforts to restore constraints on Iran's nuclear program now must account for a much larger enriched material base than existed under the original agreement. Whether Trump's current approach can unwind the consequences of his earlier break from the accord remains uncertain.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Trump created the monster he's now trying to slay, and it's unclear whether pressure alone can shrink what enrichment time built."
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