U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly criticized the Obama administration for providing Iran with sanctions relief in exchange for its participation in the nuclear agreement. He argued that Tehran was rewarded for bad behavior and given resources to expand its regional influence. He was right, which makes what he has now signed all the more indefensible.

For all of Trump’s triumphalism about reaching a deal, it is only an agreement to continue the ceasefire—a win for Iran—so talks can begin on Iran’s nuclear threat.

Iran also won financially. U.S. Vice President JD Vance acknowledged that if Tehran “meets its obligations,” economic benefits will follow. Iran will reap billions of dollars to save Trump from continuing an unpopular war that has tanked his approval ratings, along with the economy he had promised to strengthen. For all his bravado about unleashing American energy companies to end our dependence on foreign oil, he was undone by Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and the subsequent rise in oil and fertilizer prices. He had been warned about that outcome, but ignored it before starting the war.

The Memorandum of Understanding includes a $300 billion reconstruction plan for Iran—a windfall that dwarfs anything Obama provided. Unlike in the past, when funds released to Iran were subject to conditions limiting their use to humanitarian purposes, these funds are not. Iran can use its new windfall to continue its malign activities.

Much of the funding is expected to come from the Gulf states, allowing Trump to claim that, unlike under Obama’s deal, American taxpayers won’t be paying for it directly. Of course, everyone can see through this charade.

Trump couldn’t wait to reward the Iranians. He ended the blockade of Iranian ports, suspended sanctions on Iranian oil exports, and waived banking and transport sanctions to facilitate transactions that will immediately yield tens of billions in revenue for the regime. Iran’s only concession was to reopen the strait that was never supposed to be closed, but then immediately said it had reclosed it, insisting that after the 60-day negotiating period, it would be free to reimpose tolls.

Trump keeps claiming that the Iranians agreed to give up their nuclear ambitions. That is not what the memorandum says, and negotiations to ensure that they don’t get a bomb will be torturous.

Iran spent two years dragging former President Joe Biden through fruitless talks before he finally concluded that no agreement was achievable. After keeping Trump occupied for two months, Tehran now has every incentive to continue the same strategy for another two months—or even another two years—secure in the knowledge that the military pressure it once faced has been lifted.

To avoid the errors Obama made, a nuclear deal would require strict verification; that means anytime, anywhere inspections that were not part of the 2015 nuclear deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. It is inconceivable that Iran will accept inspection of its military facilities.

A deal must require the destruction of all of Iran’s centrifuges and an end to uranium enrichment. Obama’s failure to make that a condition allowed the Iranians to approach the nuclear threshold. Reports indicate Trump may make the same mistake.

Iran must not be allowed to keep the highly enriched uranium that it has stockpiled, which could be used for multiple nuclear weapons. Trump keeps talking about getting this “nuclear dust,” but Iran reportedly mined the area where it is stored to prevent American retrieval. Every week of negotiations is a week Iran keeps what it has.

It’s hard to believe that Iran will sign any deal tougher than the JCPOA now that all the military pressure has eased and it has begun reaping economic benefits. Even if Trump refused to lift some economic sanctions for noncompliance, the rest of the world will have moved on and resumed normal relations with Iran.

Hence, they can return to their pursuit of a bomb, with the added determination that comes from having seen their vulnerability without one. Yes, it may take longer to build thanks to the damage caused by the United States and Israel, but as they proved again, the Iranians are far more patient than their enemies.

Trump also has duplicated Obama’s other mistakes by agreeing to a deal that does not require Iran to stop its missile development, sponsorship of terror or support for proxies.

When asked about excluding Iran’s ballistic-missile program from the MoU, Trump said, “I mean, they have to have some, because other people have some.” Vance later compared Iran having missiles to Israel possessing them. Hence, Israel and all the Gulf states will remain vulnerable to future missile attacks.

Last summer, Trump agreed to a ceasefire with the Houthis that left their missile infrastructure intact. Those missiles have continued to strike Israel. The MoU requires a ceasefire in Lebanon as a condition—guaranteeing Hezbollah’s survival. Hamas remains in Gaza, having repeatedly rejected the disarmament condition that Trump called essential.

Iran’s entire regional strategy depends on these proxies as permanent threats. Every one of them survives this agreement, and Iran wasted no time promising to use its financial windfall to resupply them.

While the war was begun with hopes of regime change, Trump now says he opposes it because it creates “chaos,” and the MoU specifically commits Washington to refrain from interfering in Tehran’s internal affairs. While he castigates in vulgar terms the democratically elected prime minister of Israel, Trump praises the jihadists who murdered tens of thousands of their own people just a few months ago, created a global economic panic, and attacked U.S. forces, Israel and their Arab neighbors.

“The Iranians are very good traders, very good business people, and they’ve got a lot of oil. … They should be able to rebuild and do a good job,” Trump said.

The president speaks of Iran joining the Abraham Accords—a notion that goes beyond even Obama’s most optimistic claims about the moderation of the Islamic Republic.

Trump’s appeasement shouldn’t have come as a surprise. People have forgotten that he signed a peace deal with another jihadist regime: the Taliban.

The Iran deal is not just a disaster for Israel but for the United States, which sent a message of weakness to its adversaries and of unreliability to its friends. Rather than eliminate the Iranian regime as the war intended, the administration is propping it up.

Israel could sabotage the deal for its own interests, but it won’t for fear of rupturing ties with Congress, which could step in, though it has proven to be a rubber stamp for Trump’s policies. Iran can now pocket the financial concessions and refuse to meet Trump’s demands on nuclear issues, confident that his warnings about restarting the war are empty, given his obvious desperation and the upcoming elections. That is the most likely result.

Iran may be weaker than it was before “Operation Epic Fury,” but Trump has given it a lifeline. The world will pay the price.