CLOSE President Trump made an announcement from the White House, keeping his campaign promise, that the United States would withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal. John Fritze reports. John Fritze, USA TODAY 
 
 President Trump arrives to participate in first lady Melania Trump's "Be Best" initiative launch event in the Rose Garden of the White House on Monday. (Photo: SHAWN THEW, EPA-EFE) 
 
 WASHINGTON – As he announced Tuesday that he would no longer abide by the Iran nuclear deal, President Trump sent a not-so-veiled message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. 
 
 "Today's action sends a critical message: The United States no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises, I keep them," Trump said. 
 
 Even as he spoke, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on his way to the Korean Peninsula to lay the groundwork for talks about North Korea's nuclear program. "Plans are being made; relationships are building. Hopefully, a deal will happen," Trump said. 
 
 The very same issues that caused Trump to pull out of the Iran agreement will also be hurdles in North Korea talks — and in some cases, those hurdles will be higher. Unlike Iran, North Korea already has nuclear weapons. 
 
 "Ripping up the Iran deal will demonstrate to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that a deal with the United States can't be counted on. And it will give Kim Jong Un less incentive to make important concessions," said Robert Einhorn of the Brookings Institution, a former State Department adviser on arms control during the Obama administration. 
 
 Einhorn said Trump's position on the Iran deal could box him in on negotiations with North Korea. On sanctions relief, human rights and missile technology, Trump may be setting a standard on Iran that could be impossible to reach on a North Korea deal. 
 
 Trump has four major problems with the Iran deal, which was negotiated by President Obama and five other world powers and is formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. 
 
 More: What is the Iran nuclear deal? Key questions and answers about the deal and its future 
 
 •The JCPOA didn't address Iran's ballistic missile program. 
 
 •It didn't stop Iran's misbehavior in the Middle East. 
 
 • Provisions of the agreement expire after 10 to 15 years. 
 
 •It rewarded Iran by unfreezing its assets frozen by years of U.S. sanctions. 
 
 Trump is moving quickly toward a historic summit with Kim in the coming weeks, bypassing the years of lower-level talks that preceded the Iran nuclear deal. "The location is picked — the time and the date, everything is picked," Trump said. 
 
 An Obama-era law requires Trump to make a decision on Iran sanctions every 120 days. The previous time he faced that deadline, Trump waived the sanctions. Tuesday, he signed a presidential memorandum to pull out of the agreement, allowing him to impose the sanctions. 
 
 "They're not formally linked, but clearly, they’re linked in many people's minds. They're two rogue regimes on different parts of the timeline toward developing a nuclear program," said Bruce Klingner, a former CIA analyst on North Korea now at the conservative Heritage Foundation. 
 
 Because North Korea is further along on that timeline — it's suspected of having a nuclear stockpile of as many as 60 warheads — Iran and other potential nuclear states will watch to see what Kim can get away with. 
 
 "The Trump administration has set a very high bar for success and painted itself into a corner through its very strong opposition — to not just the JCPOA but other agreements with North Korea," Klingner said. 
 
 An agreement in 1994 with North Korea, negotiated by the Clinton administration and known as the Agreed Framework, slowed North Korea's nuclear program for eight years. The pact collapsed during the George W. Bush administration — in part because of North Korean provocations, but the United States didn't live up to its promise to help North Korea develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. 
 
 "One would think that the U.S. pulling out of the Iran deal would undermine North Korea's perception that it could trust the U.S. to maintain any kind of agreement with it," Klingner said. "The North Koreans already think that the U.S. political system is fickle. We change our policy every four to eight years." 
 
 That cuts both ways. Just as Iran learned that a U.S. president might not maintain an agreement his predecessor made, both countries may calculate that the next U.S. president might give them a better deal. 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2I1NfE4 ||||| In this photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani attends a meeting with officials and industrialists, at a petroleum conference in Tehran,... (Associated Press) 
 
 TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — President Hassan Rouhani warned Tuesday that Iran could restart enriching uranium "without any limitations" within weeks, after President Donald Trump pulled America out of the nuclear deal, though he said world powers still in the accord could potentially save the pact. 
 
 Rouhani's speech, broadcast live on state television within minutes of Trump's announcement, marked a doubling-down for the cleric who has seen his signature foreign policy achievement threatened by Trump for years. Trump's announcement from the White House marked potentially the worst-case scenario for the relative moderate, as the country's economy continues to reel despite the deal and may further worsen. 
 
 Stressing that the accord remained a "multilateral" one, and not just with the U.S., Rouhani said he'd be sending Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to the countries still in the deal — China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom. 
 
 Iran hopes the European Union will pass laws to protect European firms from any potential U.S. sanctions. EU officials have suggested they'll do what they can to salvage the agreement. 
 
 Still, Rouhani made a point of stressing that Iran, at any time, could resume its nuclear program. 
 
 "So if necessary, we can begin our industrial enrichment without any limitations," the Iranian leader said. "Until implementation of this decision, we will wait for some weeks and will talk with our friends and allies and other signatories of the nuclear deal, who signed it and who will remain loyal to it. Everything depends on our national interests." 
 
 During the live broadcast, Rouhani also made a point of reeling off examples of American meddling in Iran, including the 1953 coup that deposed its elected prime minister and the U.S. Navy shooting down of an Iranian commercial airliner in 1988. 
 
 Iranian state television did not broadcast Trump's announcement live, but carried his remarks in a crawl at the bottom of the screen and later recounted some of them. 
 
 Earlier Tuesday, Rouhani had stressed that Iran wants to keep "working with the world and (pursue) constructive engagement with the world." That appeared to be a nod to Europe, which has struck a series of business deals with Iran since signing the landmark 2015 nuclear accord. 
 
 Trump and the United States also came under fire from Iran's first vice president, Eshaq Jahangiri, a popular reformist politician who has been suggested as a possible presidential contender in Iran's 2021 election. 
 
 "Today, the biggest power in the world is yelling that it does not accept" the deal, Jahangiri said, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency. 
 
 Only "naive individuals would accept to enter talks with such a country," he added. "We are ready and have a plan for managing ... under any circumstance." 
 
 Jahangiri's comments suggest a potential political turn against any rapprochement with the West in response to the Trump pullout, especially as he is a reformist — a politician who advocates for change to Iran's theocratic government. It also comes as Trump is set to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year, where negotiations will undoubtedly include talks about that country's atomic weapons program. 
 
 Iran's 2015 nuclear deal imposed restrictions on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program in return for the lifting of most of the U.S. and international sanctions against Tehran. 
 
 However, the deal came with time limits and did not address Iran's ballistic missile program or its regional policies in Syria and elsewhere. Trump has repeatedly pointed to those omissions in referring to the accord as the "worst deal ever." However, proponents have said those time limits were meant to encourage more discussion with Iran in the future that could eventually address other concerns. 
 
 Many in Tehran and elsewhere in the country are worried about what Trump's decision could mean for Iran. 
 
 Already, the Iranian rial is trading on the black market at 66,000 to the dollar, despite a government-set rate of 42,000 rials. And many say they have not seen any benefits from the nuclear deal. 
 
 Iran's poor economy and unemployment sparked nationwide protests in December and January that saw at least 25 people killed and, reportedly, nearly 5,000 arrested. 
 
 Still some hard-line Iranian politicians welcomed the U.S. pullout. 
 
 "The U.S. pullout from the deal is the best achievement for Iran since it shows the real face of the U.S.," said hard-line lawmaker Ahmad Alirzabeigi. "We should not rely on the U.S., nor on Europe." 
 
 "We will face hard sanctions following the U.S. pullout, but they will not remain in place since the global community needs Iran," added another hard-line lawmaker, Jabbar Kouchakinejad. 
 
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 Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. 
 
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 AP coverage on the Iran nuclear deal: https://apnews.com/tag/Irannuclear . ||||| President Trump has been criticized for lacking even a shred of cohesion in his decision making, but there has been one unifying theme over his first 15 months in office: torching the legacy of Barack Obama. The latest of his predecessor's accomplishments set for incineration is the Iran deal, which Trump announced plans to abandon today. The withdrawal comes after months of campaigning from experts, administration officials and the international community to preserve the deal, which Trump has been decrying as "one of the worst" ever since the 2016 campaign. The president wasn't swayed, remaining convinced he can renegotiate a better arrangement despite Iran's refusal to do so. 
 
 Related What's Lurking Inside Trump's War Cabinet? With Mike Pompeo and John Bolton whispering in Trump’s ear, we are one step closer to war 
 
 While announcing the United States' removal from the "decaying and rotten" agreement Tuesday afternoon, Trump said it's "fine" that Iran is refusing to negotiate a new deal, and that he will be ready to talk when the nation does decide to discuss new terms. In the meantime, Trump says he will work to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and that if the regime resumes its development of a weapons program, "it will have bigger problems than it has ever had before." 
 
 
 
 He continued: Today’s action sends a critical message ... the U.S. no longer sends empty threats. When I make promises, I keep them." 
 
 Negotiated in July 2015, the deal, officially dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, stipulated that Iran rid itself of nuclear fuel if the United States waived sanctions that had been crippling the nation's economy. As part of the deal, a UN nuclear agency would monitor Iran’s fidelity to the agreement and, thus far, the agency has determined that Iran has complied. After 10 years, restrictions on research and development would lighten, and after 15 years, Iran would be able to produce nuclear fuel, but not in service of a weapons program. Along with the lack of a provision preventing Iran from testing ballistic missiles, this "sunset clause" has been pointed to by Trump as one of the principle reasons the deal is a "disaster." 
 
 
 
 Most supporters of the deal have acknowledged its flaws, but have advocated working to amend the terms rather that starting from scratch. Trump's insistence on blowing the deal up may prove problematic, though, as Iran has stated that it is not willing to start negotiating an entirely new deal. This leaves the United States with no agreement, and leaves the rest of the world – the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and China all signed onto the deal, as well – fearing the worst. "We would open the Pandora’s box," French President Emmanuel Macron recently told German paper Der Spiegel of the impact of the U.S. pulling out of the deal. "There could be war." 
 
 
 
 Here are three immediate takeaways from Trump's decision today. 
 
 
 
 1. Iran is now free to build a nuclear bomb 
 
 
 
 Since the deal took effect in October 2015, the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency has kept close tabs on the degree to which Iran has upheld its promise to suspend its nuclear weapons program. The nation's former uranium enrichment plants are monitored constantly, dust samples are collected that are then analyzed for traces of nuclear activity and tips are investigated as to sites of suspicious activity within Iran. This element of oversight was a lynchpin of the agreement, as it has ensured there is virtually no way for Iran to even begin developing a nuclear weapon. Secretary of Defense James Mattis has called the verification process "robust." 
 
 
 
 The IAEA offers an unprecedented degree of transparency into the Iran's nuclear capabilities, an invaluable safeguard considering Iran's history as an untrustworthy adversary. With this safeguard removed, Iran would be free to renew its nuclear weapons program, and the United States would have no way of monitoring whether they are developing weapons. As some have pointed out, this could pave the way for an invasion. 
 
 The Iran deal provides substantially more provision for verification of denuclearization & ongoing monitoring of such than will exist in this new post-Iran-deal reality. Watch arguments for war in the coming months take the shape of "we can't be sure Iran isn't building a bomb." — Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) May 8, 2018 
 
 Part of what has emboldened Trump to renege is the departures of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster – who both encouraged the president to uphold the deal – with Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, respectively, who have both been critical of it. Bolton was involved in an eerily similar situation 15 years ago before the United States invaded Iraq. 
 
 15 years ago, Bolton + Netanyahu justified their demand for a confrontation with Iraq by claiming the weapons inspectors there were being duped. Now they're peddling the same story about the inspections in Iran. Why can't America learn from its mistakes?https://t.co/JraoV4kb4c pic.twitter.com/gNHHzywuB5 — Peter Beinart (@PeterBeinart) May 8, 2018 
 
 Iran’s capability to build a bomb would also incentivize other Middle Eastern nations to pursue nuclear weapons programs. "What has been gained from the nuclear deal? Imagine all the mutually contaminating civil wars and internecine conflicts that rage across the Middle East today. Then turn the dial and add the possibility of a regional nuclear arms race triggered by Iran dashing for a bomb," wrote British foreign secretary Boris Johnson in a recent op-ed for the New York Times. "That is the scenario which the agreement has helped to prevent." 
 
 
 
 2. Trump's decision will likely alienate allies 
 
 
 
 Though brokered by the Obama administration, the Iran deal is very much an international accord, and the implications of Trump's refusal to waive sanctions on Iran come the May 12th deadline will be wide-ranging. In recent weeks, representatives from the United Kingdom, France and Germany have all visited the U.S. in an effort to convince Trump to preserve the deal, acknowledging its flaws but pleading with the president to consider working to fix or amend the agreement rather than dissolving it entirely. Boris Johnson even attempted to appeal to Trump by saying that a Nobel Peace Prize could be a possibility if the president were able to fix the Iran deal and negotiate something similar with North Korea. 
 
 France, Germany, and the UK regret the U.S. decision to leave the JCPOA. The nuclear non-proliferation regime is at stake. — Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 8, 2018 
 
 Though Trump has removed the United States from the deal, allies in Europe have committed to upholding it, and the reinstatement of sanctions may result in tension between the U.S. and those it relies on most. It could also cause a rift with China and Russia, who have also encouraged the United States to remain in the deal, warning of the geopolitical insecurity that would ensue should the deal be scrapped. As was the case when Trump removed the United States from the Paris Accords last summer, scrapping the Iran deal would be a significant blow to its standing as an international leader. 
 
 
 
 3. The abandonment may hinder an impending deal with North Korea 
 
 
 
 Reimposing sanctions on Iran would be Trump’s most consequential foreign policy maneuver yet, but a meeting with Kim Jong-un looms large. For Trump to pull out of a deal that by all accounts, Iran is complying with, it could make North Korea wary of entering into a similar deal with the United States. 
 
 
 
 "North Korea could not claim the U.S. abrogates agreements without cause and would be more likely to negotiate and end to its nuclear program," wrote the National Coalition to Prevent an Iranian Nuclear Weapon, a bipartisan collection of over 100 national security veterans, a in a letter published last month. "Efforts to limit nuclear proliferation would be strengthened." 
 
 
 
 Trump has used every superlative in the book in criticizing the Iran deal. If he wants to broker an agreement that would result in the denuclearization of North Korea, he’s going to have to devise something even more advantageous for the U.S. than the Iran deal that North Korea will also agree to. This seems far fetched, to say the least. "The man who wrote The Art of the Deal has staked out a position that the Iran deal was the worst one in history," Robert S. Litwak, author of Preventing North Korea's Nuclear Breakout recently explain to the New York Times. "And now he has to show that he can do much better, with a far harder case." 
 
 
 
 Trump ran on his dealmaking prowess, but there have been few examples of it through his first 15 months in office. Hopefully, for the sake of humanity, he's just been saving up all his negotiating acumen for his upcoming meeting with Kim Jong-un. He's going to need it. 
 
 
 
 Along with his Tuesday afternoon announcement that the United States would remove itself from the Iran deal, Trump told the nation that newly minted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on his way to North Korea to work on the terms for the president's upcoming meeting with Kim Jong-un. "Plans are being made, relationships are building, and hopefully a deal will happen," Trump said.
– President Trump formally withdrew the US from the 2015 Iran nuclear accord Tuesday—now what? Iranian President Hassan Rouhani gave a speech broadcast live on state TV within minutes of Trump's announcement in which he warned the country could restart enriching uranium "without any limitations" within weeks, the AP reports, though he added that the Iranian foreign minister will visit the countries still in the deal—China, France, Germany, Russia, and the UK—to see if the pact can be salvaged. More on the fallout and potential ramifications of the US pulling out: The Washington Post lays out "5 big consequences" of Trump's decision while Rolling Stone looks at the "3 biggest consequences." Both articles point out the possibility that Trump's decision could alienate US allies. What impact will the decision have on a potential US-North Korea nuclear deal? USA Today digs in.