Trump had called Obama's 2015 JCPOA deal with Iran 'worst ever': Is he following the same plan now?

Former US President Barack Obama had signed a deal with Iran in 2015. The deal was called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — famously known as the Iran nuclear deal. At that time, Donald Trump had called it “the worst deal ever". JCPOA was aimed at curbing the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme in exchange for relief from international economic restrictions.

Now, in 2026, Trump has renewed the push to reach a deal with Tehran as the current president. And the effort is now being compared with the agreement negotiated by Obama.

As Trump was heavily in opposition of Obama's deal, which was withdrawn in 2018, there are chances he would refrain from signing a deal that would look too similar to the JCPOA. As per the reports, the deal, which is under discussion right now, talks about the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran’s nuclear programme. Moreover, all the other aspects mentioned in the deal are similar to the one Obama had signed. The only difference is the Hormuz, which was already open before the conflict began.

“Trump will be very worried about his deal being compared to Obama’s because ripping up the JCPOA was a centrepiece of the early days of his first administration," said Andrew Moran, a professor at the London Metropolitan University, as per the iPaper.

What do we know about the JCPOA deal?

The JCPOA deal was signed by Obama and was intended to curb Iran’s nuclear activities for 15 years until 2030. In 2018, Trump had said that the deal was not strong enough. At the time, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium only up to 3.67 per cent, far below the roughly 90 per cent enrichment needed to develop a nuclear bomb.