This is an OZY Special Briefing, an extension of the Presidential Daily Brief. The Special Briefing tells you what you need to know about an important issue, individual or story that is making news. Each one serves up an interesting selection of facts, opinions, images and videos in order to catch you up and vault you ahead. WHAT TO KNOW What happened? U.S. President Donald Trump announced yesterday that the U.S. is withdrawing from the nuclear agreement with Iran — aka the JCPOA, also signed by the U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany — which he criticized as “a horrible, one-sided deal.” He also pledged to reimpose tough economic sanctions on Iran. Trump argued that the country could be on the verge of a “nuclear breakout” at any time under the current agreement, even though the limits placed on Iran’s uranium enrichment and nuclear fuel stockpiles help to ensure no such breakout could occur for at least a decade. Why it matters? While Trump’s been threatening to make this move since the campaign trail, the decision leaves the 2015 agreement, which tightly restricts Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and capabilities in return for ending sanctions, in serious jeopardy. For the moment, Iran says it will remain in the deal and seek to save it by reaching out to its European, Chinese and Russian signatories — many of whom have pledged to stick with its terms. Even if the deal is preserved and Iran does not renew its nuclear program, Trump’s decision further isolates the U.S. from Western allies like the U.K., France and Germany, which expressed “regret and concern” in a joint statement. |