Richard Nephew, program director at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, told CNBC on Friday that “the simple reality is that Trump hates the JCPOA even as he doesn't understand it.” 

Nephew added, “And though his advisors are attempting to get him to think about it more pragmatically, their perennial struggles don't auger well for its survival.”

Nephew, who served as the lead sanctions expert for the State Department negotiating with Iran from 2013 to 2014, said, “Mr. Trump has set an unreasonable list of demands out that I do not think any realistic European or Congressional agreement could satisfy.” 

MH/PA