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President Donald Trump has insisted that the deal he has reached with Iran is superior to the one that Barack Obama sealed in 2015, while Trump’s critics say at this point he has gotten much less and given up much more to Tehran.
How do the two agreements compare?
What each deal is … and isn’t
They are very different. The “memorandum of understanding” (MoU) that Trump signed with Iran is not a final agreement but a one-and-a-half-page, 14-point framework negotiated on and off over a period of weeks.
It has launched a 60-day negotiation period to seek a full settlement of the nearly four-month war, with many hurdles yet to overcome on various issues.
Obama’s pact was a finished, detailed document titled the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that extended to more than 160 pages.
It was narrowly focused on restricting Iran’s nuclear activities, with strict benchmarks.
Trump, who condemned the Obama-era deal as “horrible”, scrapped the JCPOA in 2018.
Nuclear Programme
Both deals involve a written commitment by Iran never to seek a nuclear weapon.
Sanctions and Frozen Assets
Both deals involve sanctions relief and unfreezing of assets but in very different ways.
Obama eased some sanctions early on, but only after a comprehensive settlement was signed, and then phased in further relief based on verified steps by Iran.
Trump’s MoU front-loads initial relief, including immediate US waivers for Iran to export oil, while leaving a final package to be negotiated later.
Strait of Hormuz
The JCPOA dealt only with nuclear issues, a deliberate choice by the Obama administration, which calculated that bundling in other regional concerns would make a final deal impossible.
The MoU, however, is the diplomatic starting point for permanently ending a war that Trump launched with Israel on February 28 and which has sent shockwaves across the world economy.
As a result, one of its main thrusts is an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil-shipping channel which Iran effectively closed. – Reuters
