Declaring that it is “defective at its core,” on 8 May 2018, President Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and begin re-imposing sanctions that were lifted pursuant to U.S. commitments under the agreement. Formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the deal has been in effect since January 2016 and is the political agreement between the world’s major powers and Iran that cut off Iran’s path to a nuclear bomb in exchange for sanctions relief.