US politicians slam Trump's Iran decision as 'mistake'

US President Donald Trump's decision to quit the Iran nuclear deal and reinstate sanctions on Tehran on Tuesday was met with overwhelming negative reactions from American politicians describing the move as a "mistake".

Trump called the nuclear deal agreed between his predecessor, Iran and other world powers as "defective at its core" during the televised statement on Tuesday.

"At the heart of the Iran deal was a giant fiction, that a murderous regime desired only a peaceful, nuclear energy programme," Trump said from the White House.

"Today, we have definitive proof that this Iranian promise was a lie."

In a hard-won deal struck in 2015, Iran agreed to freeze its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of punishing international sanctions.

It was a breakthrough that ended a 12-year stand-off between Iran and the West, following concerns Tehran was developing a nuclear bomb.

Explainer: The landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal

Former President Barack Obama - who struck the deal after years of efforts - slammed Trump's decision as "so misguided."

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In a statement released on Facebook, Obama says: Walking away from the JCPOA [Iran deal] turns our back on America's closest allies, and an agreement that our country's leading diplomats, scientists, and intelligence professionals negotiated," he wrote, in a lenghty Facebook post.

"In a democracy, there will always be changes in policies and priorities from one Administration to the next. But the consistent flouting of agreements that our country is a party to risks eroding America's credibility, and puts us at odds with the world's major powers."

John Kerry, then secretary of state, also reacted negatively to the announcement which tore down the landmark agreement, which he worked hard on building.

"Today's announcement weakens our security, breaks America's word, isolates us from our European allies, puts Israel at greater risk, empowers Iran's hardliners, and reduces our global leverage to address Tehran's misbehavior, while damaging the ability of future Administrations to make international agreements.

"The facts speak for themselves. Instead of building on unprecedented nonproliferation verification measures, this decision risks throwing them away and dragging the world back to the brink we faced a few years ago."

Former vice-President Joe Biden echoed Obama's comments and described Trump's move a "profound mistake".

"It will isolate the United States from nearly every major world power," Biden said in a statement, adding that any talk about a "'better deal' is an illusion."

"All it will likely accomplish is to put Iran back on the path to a nuclear weapon with no clear diplomatic way out."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi shared similar sentiments, saying Trump's "decision to follow his misguided and uninformed campaign promise to destroy" the Iran deal "endangers global security and defies comprehension".

"This rash decision isolates America, not Iran. Our allies will hold up their end of the agreement, but our government will lose its international credibility and the power of our voice at the table," Pelosi said in a statement.

"The President's decision to abdicate American leadership during a critical moment in our effort to advance a denuclearisation agreement with North Korea is particularly senseless, disturbing and dangerous."

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Senator Mark Warner, tweeted that "withdrawing from the Iran deal makes the United States, and the world, less secure".

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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the move "a big mistake" that "makes America less safe and less trusted".

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She added in a follow-up tweet that she "helped negotiate the crippling international sanctions that brought Iran to the table. It would be much harder a second time, now that our credibility is shot".

The US' European allies said they are working to minimise the damage of the US withdrawal from the pact.

They are worried that an escalation could aggravate already tense relations. Shortly after Trump's announcement, the UK, Germany and France said they were 'committed' to the deal despite Trump pulling out. 

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani called Trump's decision "illegal" and an act of "psychological warfare", warning that Tehran could resume uranium enrichment "without limit" in response to the US withdrawal. 

He had previously issued a strong warning to the United States not to quit the pact on Sunday.

"If the United States leaves the nuclear agreement, you will soon see that they will regret it like never before in history," Rouhani said.

He also vehemently reiterated his country's opposition to curtailing its non-nuclear missile capabilities, insisting Tehran "will build as many missiles and weapons as needed".