J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami issued the following statement:

“With his reckless statement today on the Iran nuclear agreement, President Trump has put the United States on a path to a new nuclear crisis and isolation on the world stage.

The president is threatening to unilaterally kill the Iran nuclear agreement in 120 days, unless our European allies and Congress capitulate to his demands to significantly change the terms of the JCPOA. While he decided to reissue nuclear sanctions waivers this time, Trump promised to never do so again unless the agreement is effectively amended to meet his impossible standards by an arbitrary deadline.

Once again, this reckless and volatile president is refusing to uphold the United States’ international commitments or work seriously with our allies to address important global threats. On a day when the entire world is already outraged over his disgraceful comments about foreign nations and immigrants to the United States, the president is doubling down on chaos. He is abdicating American leadership and starting a ticking clock towards possible military confrontation and disaster in the Middle East.

It is unclear whether the president will ultimately follow through on this threat, or if he is simply yet again attempting to defer an important decision to punt responsibility onto some other party. If Trump does carry out this course of action, the US will be left completely isolated on the world stage and Iran will be empowered to pursue the development of a nuclear weapon.

Members of Congress and any responsible officials remaining inside the administration must take action to reverse this decision and prevent this disastrous policy from being carried out. J Street also calls on Congress to make clear that the president does not now have its authorization for the use of military force against Iran.

Nothing less than the security of the US, Israel and our allies and the credibility of American leadership is at stake. “