structural:scholar_edition, information:highlighting, information:filtering, linguistic:paraphrasing, information:classification
Iran

In May 2018, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 agreement that lifted most economic sanctions against Iran in return for restrictions on Iran's nuclear program. In August 2020, the Trump administration unsuccessfully attempted to use a section of the nuclear deal to have the UN reimpose sanctions against Iran. Analysts determined that, after the U.S. withdrawal, Iran moved closer to developing a nuclear weapon.

On January 1, 2020, Trump ordered a U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, who had planned nearly every significant Iranian and Iranian-backed operation over the preceding two decades. One week later, Iran retaliated with ballistic missile strikes against two U.S. airbases in Iraq. Dozens of soldiers sustained traumatic brain injuries. Trump downplayed their injuries, and they were initially denied Purple Hearts and the benefits accorded to its recipients.