Former President Barack Obama says the United States can’t “bomb” its way to a better Iran agreement, arguing any new deal will likely resemble the 2015 accord he helped negotiate. Speaking on ABC’s “Good Morning America” with Robin Roberts on Sunday, Obama po
Barack Obama doesn’t sound surprised. He sounds tired of the same argument coming back around again.
In an interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts on Sunday, the former president questioned whether the United States and Iran can reach an agreement that is “significantly different or a significant improvement” over the deal that existed before President Donald Trump’s first term.
Obama’s skepticism is rooted in the deal the Obama administration reached with Iran in 2015—an arrangement that required Iran to limit its nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions imposed by the United States and the UN. That bargain. Obama noted in effect. was not built on military leverage. but on negotiations designed to trade constraints for relief.
Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018, setting off years of escalating pressure and talk of war. Obama discussed both the withdrawal and the subsequent conflict with Iran during Sunday’s interview.
“What is it that we can realistically do?” Obama said, before making the point in plain language. The former president argued the United States can’t “bomb [its] way” to foreign-policy solutions. He acknowledged that a show of force can “sometimes seem appealing.” But he insisted there is still no substitute for the time-consuming work of talks.
“You’d think we would’ve learned that lesson by now, but it seems like every so often we have to learn that lesson again,” Obama said.
His comments land as Trump faces a familiar test: whether a new diplomatic package can be forged after leaving the 2015 deal behind. During his first term. Trump was sharply critical of the agreement. calling it a “horrible one-sided deal that should have never. ever been made.” He said it “didn’t bring calm. it didn’t bring peace. and it never will.”.
Trump has promised to work out a better deal, this time tied to a broader ceasefire agreement with Iran. But that ceasefire has been promised as days away for weeks, and no deal has been made public.
The tension in Obama’s message is clear in the way he frames the choice facing Washington: military pressure may draw attention in the short term. but he argues it can’t replace negotiating a real arrangement that both sides can live with. In that view. the most important question isn’t how force is presented—it’s whether diplomacy can produce an outcome that isn’t merely a rerun of the last one.
Whether the Trump administration can deliver something meaningfully different as the ceasefire promise drags on remains the question hanging over the moment—one Obama says Americans keep trying to answer the hard way.
Barack Obama Donald Trump Iran deal 2015 nuclear agreement US UN sanctions 2018 withdrawal ABC Robin Roberts Iran ceasefire US foreign policy
Obama can’t bomb its way? Lol okay.
So basically he’s saying nothing changes and we just do the same deal again? I’m not sure how that helps right now. Also didn’t Trump already make it worse, like in general?
I get what he’s saying but it feels like everyone keeps talking like bombing is the only alternative. Like what about sanctions? Or are we gonna pretend that didn’t happen. The 2015 deal sounded good until it didn’t, so idk why they keep reenacting it.
This is kinda funny bc I remember folks said “peace through strength” and now it’s like “you can’t bomb your way.” But also isn’t the whole Iran situation partly because Obama left a mess and Trump had to deal with it? I’m confused. They talk about negotiations taking time but we never have time, do we. Seems like both sides just want headline wins.