Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, the United States and Iran have estranged and at odds. During the 1980s and 1990s, U.S. officials identified Iran's support for militant Middle East groups as the primary threat posed by Iran to U.S. interests and allies. Iran's nuclear program took precedence in U.S. policy after 2002 as the potential for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon increased. In 2010, the Obama Administration orchestrated broad international economic pressure on Iran to persuade it to agree to strict limits on the program-pressure that contributed to the June 2013 election of the relatively moderate Hassan Rouhani as president of Iran and the negotiation of a nuclear agreement-the "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action" (JCPOA). The JCPOA, which took effect in January 2016, exchanged sanctions relief for temporary limits on Iran's nuclear program. The JCPOA reduced the potential threat from Iran's nuclear program, but did not contain strict or binding limits on Iran's ballistic missile program; its regional influence; its conventional military programs; and its human rights abuses. In October 2017, President Trump articulated a U.S. commitment to addressing the deficiencies of the JCPOA and, on January 12, 2018, the President threatened to withdraw the United States from the JCPOA unless European countries and the U.S. Congress addressed his stated concerns about the deal. U.S.-European negotiations and U.S.-Europe summit meetings produced pledges of action to address at least some of President Trump's requirements but the Administration deemed those offers insufficient for the United States to remain in the accord. On May 8, 2018, in advance of the May 12 expiration of the waiver of a key sanctions law, President Trump announced that the United States is withdrawing from the JCPOA and would reimpose all sanctions that were suspended or lifted. Some experts assert that the threat posed by Iran stems from the nature and ideology of Iran's regime, and that U.S.-Iran relations will not improve substantially as long as the current regime is in power in Iran. One moderate who seeks to improve Iran's relations with the West including the United States, Hassan Rouhani, won successive presidential elections in 2013 and 2017. Reformist and moderate candidates won overwhelmingly in concurrent municipal council elections in all the major cities, including Tehran. But, hardliners continue to control the state institutions that maintain internal security in large part through suppression. In part as a response to repression as well as economic conditions, unrest erupts periodically, most recently during December 2017-January 2018, and more sporadically since then. Trump Administration officials have not, at any time, articulated an intent to improve relations with the existing regime in Iran absent dramatic changes in Iran's policies and instead have expressed hope that the Iranian public and their protests might be able to achieve significant political change. As of mid-2018, perhaps sensing potential instability in Iran, Administration officials are increasingly highlighting Iran's human rights abuses and systemic corruption in an apparent attempt to weaken support for the regime within Iran.