“This is a good day,” President Barack Obama began his remarks on Jan. 17, 2016, “because once again we are seeing what’s possible with strong American diplomacy.” On that day he celebrated the success of the so-called Iran Nuclear Deal—aka the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—an agreement signed a few months earlier by Iran, the U.S., the United Kingdom, China, France, Germany, and Russia. Obama was touting the verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran was in full compliance. This meant it had gotten rid of 98% of its low-grade enriched uranium, dismantled two-thirds of the centrifuges used to enrich uranium, destroyed the core of the primary reactor that could have been used to produce the plutonium needed to make a nuclear weapon, and given the IAEA the unprecedented degree of access it needed to monitor future compliance—all in return for the lifting of international sanctions relating to its nuclear program. The 44th president emphasized that the “progress” achieved on “roll[ing] back Iran’s nuclear program” served as a “reminder of what we can achieve when we lead with strength and with wisdom, with courage and resolve and patience.” Today, the world stands in a very different place because the 45th president made a disastrous unilateral decision to tear up what Obama achieved on Iran. We may not be on the brink of nuclear war between superpowers like we were during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but Trump’s rash action has resulted in the exact opposite of what he claimed it would, and Iran is now only weeks from being able to make a nuclear weapon. The Man Who Lost An Election and Tried To Steal It demonstrated exactly none of the five characteristics cited above by his predecessor. Now it’s up to the 46th president to try and salvage something from the wreckage he inherited. Although Joe Biden and his team have been working hard for months, the chances of success look bleak. Read more