Netanyahu convinced Trump to kill Iran deal

First published in the Brunswick Beacon, 05.21.26

Trump and Netanyahu’s Iran War sent the national average price for regular gas from under $3 a gallon to $4.50. Their war of choice provoked Iran into doing something it never did before — close the Strait of Hormuz. That blocked one-fifth of the world’s oil and one-third of the world’s fertilizer. Prices soared.

We need Iran to: 1.) open up the Strait of Hormuz: 2.) give up its near-weapons grade uranium; 3.) agree that “Under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop, or acquire any nuclear weapons,” and 4) allow the most intrusive inspections ever performed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

We had all that in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) President Obama negotiated in 2015. It had the unanimous approval of the U.N. Security Council and European Union.

Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, addressed a joint session of Congress in an unsuccessful attempt to stop it. When Trump became president, Netanyahu called in a favor.

He and Trump have been friends for decades, so Netanyahu urged Trump to torpedo the deal. His lobbying paid off, bigly. On May 8, 2018, Trump killed the JCPOA, even though the IAEA confirmed that Iran was fully complying with its terms.

“We convinced the US president [to exit the deal] and I had to stand up against the whole world and come out against this agreement,” Netanyahu boasted, “And we didn’t give up.”

When Trump joined his Iran War, Netanyahu thanked “my friend, US President Donald Trump.” Netanyahu said having the “assistance” of “the US military ... allows us to do what I have yearned to do for 40 years: smite [Iran] hip and thigh.” As a result, 15 American soldiers have died and 538 have been wounded so far. Thousands of civilians have been killed.

Next time you gas up, remember how Trump caved to Netanyahu’s pressure and killed a deal that would have prevented this needless and costly war.

L. McGann

Leland