President Donald Trump on Wednesday forcefully rejected comparisons between the announced Iran agreement and former President Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal, arguing the Obama-era pact could have led to Israel and much of the Middle East being "terminated" if he had not ended it."The JCPOA was a short-term lease.It expired long ago," Trump told reporters during a press conference on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
"Had I let it run, it expired.You wouldn't have been around.
A lot of people wouldn't have been around, but Israel would have been terminated.I think the whole Middle East would have been terminated."Trump added that he finished the job of terminating the Obama nuclear deal after failed attempts from Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu."Bibi actually went to Congress and pleaded with them, and he got nowhere.
And they had this horrible deal that was horrible for Israel, horrible for Israel.And that's where it stood.
And then I came along and I terminated that deal that had very little time left," said Trump.VANCE REVEALS TRUMP LESSON GUIDING IRAN DEAL STRATEGY AS TEHRAN FACES 60-DAY DEADLINEresident Donald Trump (C) gestures as he addresses the media alongside United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer (L), US Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick (2L), US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2R) and US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent (R) during a closing press conference at the G7 summit, in Evian, eastern France (Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)Trump added that Netanyahu "begged Barack Hussein Obama, the president, not to do the JCPOA.He said it could be the end of Israel, and it would have been if I didn't come along.
And Obama didn't listen to him." The president said the agreement is fundamentally different from the JCPOA, arguing it is structured to permanently block Iran's path to a nuclear weapon rather than temporarily limit its nuclear activities before key restrictions sunset.Trump's remarks came prior to the release of the new...