Tim Kaine is pointing a direct finger at Donald Trump’s first term as the root cause of the ongoing war with Iran. Appearing on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday, the Virginia Democrat called Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal one of the worst foreign policy decisions any American president has ever made.
Speaking with co-anchor Martha Raddatz, Kaine argued the move poisoned any chance of future diplomacy. As ABC News reported, the senator said Iran had kept its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and Trump ignored warnings from his own secretaries of Defense and State to stay in the agreement.
“Iran entered into an agreement with the United States and other nations … reaffirming that they would never purchase, seek or acquire a nuclear weapon,” Kaine said. “Donald Trump tore that up … so JD Vance says now that while Iran won’t agree to what they agreed to 10 years ago, I’m sure Iran wonders, if we agree to it, will the United States tear it up again?”
What the JCPOA required
Under the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to cap its uranium enrichment program and allow international inspectors access to its nuclear sites. In exchange, the U.S. and other world powers lifted major economic sanctions. Kaine, who co-authored the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, argued the deal was holding up until Trump scrapped it in his first term.
His argument has gained broader support. CNN, in a recent analysis, noted that Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi said Iran had agreed to major concessions just the day before the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury in late February, including zero stockpiling and full verification of enriched uranium. That opening was never pursued.
Trump, for his part, has consistently trashed the JCPOA and blamed former President Barack Obama for negotiating it. At a March 26 Cabinet meeting, he said Obama “gave them free will toward a nuclear weapon.”
Kaine pushes to extend the ceasefire
The senator’s criticism came as peace talks between the U.S. and Iran collapsed over the weekend in Islamabad, Pakistan, after 21 hours of negotiations. TFF previously reported that Trump had threatened to resume Iran strikes if peace talks fail, and the failed talks have put that possibility back on the table.
Kaine said both sides left Pakistan, saying the door to further talks was not closed, and he urged the administration to use that opening. “The ceasefire, while it is not perfectly holding, we need to find a way to extend it past April 21,” Kaine said. “Both parties, when they left the negotiation in Pakistan said the door wasn’t closed to additional negotiation, and so even an imperfect ceasefire is better than resuming full war.”
He also dismissed the idea that Iran posed a direct threat to the U.S. homeland that justified military action. “They are a regional threat, but they posed no imminent threat to the United States,” Kaine said. “I’m on both the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees. I’m in the classified facility at the Capitol all the time, and there was zero evidence of an imminent threat to the homeland from Iran.”
Another war powers vote coming
Beyond the ceasefire question, Kaine said he plans to force another Senate war powers vote this week aimed at halting additional military action without congressional approval. His previous attempts, including a March 4 vote that failed 47-53 with only Kentucky Senator Rand Paul crossing party lines, have not gained enough Republican support to advance.
TFF also reported on the earlier U.S. diplomatic push, with JD Vance, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner traveling to Pakistan for the ceasefire talks. Vance confirmed after the talks ended that Iran did not agree to the core U.S. demand of committing to never seeking a nuclear weapon.
The ceasefire deadline currently sits at April 21. What happens if it expires without a new deal remains unclear.
