Obama criticises Trump’s Iran policy, says region may be worse off than before

Former US President Barack Obama has criticised President Donald Trump’s approach towards Iran, arguing that years of military action, sanctions and diplomatic confrontation have left the region in a position that may be no better — and potentially worse — than before the conflict escalated.

In an interview with NBC, Obama welcomed the recently announced ceasefire between the United States and Iran but questioned the broader strategy pursued by the Trump administration. He said the human and financial costs of the conflict had been immense, while the long-term outcome remained uncertain.

"We have now fought a war, spent billions and trillions of dollars, put enormous pressure on our military. A lot of people have lost their lives. And it seems that we are back to where we were before the war started, but perhaps the situation has worsened a little bit from that," Obama said.

The remarks mark the latest chapter in the ongoing dispute between the two leaders over Iran policy. Trump has repeatedly criticised Obama’s 2015 nuclear agreement with Tehran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), describing it as a flawed arrangement that failed to adequately restrain Iran’s ambitions. In recent weeks, Trump has defended his administration’s handling of Iran and hailed the newly announced peace agreement as a major diplomatic success.

Obama, however, argued that the nuclear accord negotiated during his presidency had successfully secured commitments from Iran to limit its nuclear programme and prevent the development of nuclear weapons.

"I am very happy to see the ceasefire and hope that it will last," Obama said, while adding that Iran had agreed under the deal not to pursue a nuclear weapon.

The former president also criticised the decision by the Trump administration to withdraw the United States from the JCPOA in 2018. According to Obama, abandoning the agreement removed key restrictions and oversight mechanisms that had been placed on Iran’s nuclear activities.

"This administration, or this same administration before, withdrew itself from the agreement, as a result of which Iran further increased its nuclear capability," he said.

The JCPOA, signed in 2015 between Iran and six world powers, was designed to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. The agreement imposed strict limits on uranium enrichment and established an extensive international inspection regime aimed at ensuring compliance.

Trump withdrew the United States from the accord three years later, arguing that the agreement was fundamentally flawed and failed to address broader concerns about Iran’s regional influence and missile programme. The decision led to the reimposition of sanctions and a period of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Obama’s comments come as debate continues in the US over whether recent military and diplomatic efforts have strengthened regional stability or merely returned the two countries to a position similar to that which existed before the collapse of the nuclear deal.