One day after officially withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, President Donald Trump warned Iran that “something will happen” if the country refuses to come back to the negotiating table and attempts to restart its nuclear program, ABC News reports.
Prior to withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, Iran’s Foreign Minister said that were to withdraw and reimpose sanctions on Iran, it would likely work to rebuild its nuclear program.
When asked during a cabinet meeting what the president would do if Iran tried to restart their nuclear program, Trump said: “Iran will find out. They’re going to find out. I don’t think they should do that. I would advise Iran not to start their nuclear program. I would advise them very strongly.”
“If they do, there will be very severe consequences,” Trump added.
“So we’re going to make either a really good deal for the world, or we’re not going to make a deal at all,” Trump said. “But they’ll negotiate, or something will happen. And hopefully, that won’t be the case.”
When announcing that he would be withdrawing the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, Trump said he would instate new sanctions on Iran, adding that any country that assisted Iran in obtaining nuclear weapons would also be “strongly sanctioned,” CNN reports.
“We will not allow American cities to be threatened with destruction. Today’s action sends a critical message: The United States no longer makes empty threats. If the regime continues its nuclear aspirations, it will have bigger problems that it has ever had before,” Trump said at the time of the announcement.
According to CNN, however, Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and his recent warning pose questions as to what legal grounds the U.S. can use to enforce compliance from Iran.
Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement has drawn criticism from former President Barack Obama and former Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. During a briefing on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders responded to their criticism of Trump’s decision and it’s potential to create an arms race in the Middle East, CNN reports.
“I think based on each of those individuals lack of success in this entire process on foreign affairs, they would probably be the last three people that we would look to for advice and counsel and whether or not we made the right decision,” Sanders said.