Then-President Barack Obama lauded the deal – officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – as a “chapter in this pursuit of a safer and more helpful and more hopeful world,” and later called it “the strongest non-proliferation agreement ever negotiated.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, at the same time, called the landmark agreement a “historic deal and Iranians will be proud of it for generations to come.” People in Tehran danced in the streets to celebrate.

Four-and-a-half years later, this cooperation between the US and Iran has relapsed into enmity, and the optimism has faded into tensions so high they risk all-out war.

President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal in May 2018, citing a lack of trust in Iran and calling Obama’s work a bad deal. He then imposed punitive sanctions to cripple Iran’s economy in an unsuccessful effort to force the regime’s leaders to comply with US demands on its behavior.

Trump’s actions have been widely viewed as the catalyst of a series of escalating tensions between the US and Iran, which bubbled to a historic height in recent days.

On January 3, the US killed revered Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike ordered by Trump.

Two days later, Iran announced it was fully withdrawing from the JCPOA, having since last summer openly taken incremental steps from its commitments that could allow it to develop a potential nuclear weapon.

On Thursday, Rouhani said the country was enriching more uranium than it did before completing the JCPOA in 2015.

On Monday, the Justice Department submitted a legal brief to the Supreme Court that stated that United States President, Donald Trump acted lawfully when he decided to end the Obama-era immigration program known as DACA in September of 2017, according to a new report.

But a few details about the terminated mission and the circumstances that led to the reversal were available.

A lot of news outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post and Associated Press, shared reports of similar accounts — citing unnamed sources. These reports portray a mission that would have targeted Iranian missile batteries and radars. No shots were fired and no missiles were launched, according to the AP.

The Times reported that planes were in the air and ships in position but no shots were fired.

Top White House officials met on Thursday for a classified briefing that lasted over an hour about the drone and those in attendance suggested that a “measured” response was likely coming soon.

Despite earlier rhetoric, United States President Donald Trump indeed appeared to be taking a measured approach to the crisis. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., an outspoken Donald Trump critic who leads the House Intelligence Committee, said that Trump is listening to congressional leaders who are urging caution.

Donald Trump told reporters that Iran made a “very big mistake” but also said he had the feeling that it might have been the result of someone being “loose and stupid,” rather than a deliberate provocation by Iran.

The Pentagon shared a video showing the smoke trail of a Navy drone that was shot out of the sky over the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, in what military officials described as an “unprovoked attack.”

The tensions between Washington and Tehran have increased ever since Donald Trump retreated from the Obama-era nuke deal in May 2018.

Iran has been under strain from United States sanctions after seeing its currency drop by about 60 percent in 12 months, according to EU figures. Food and drug prices are up 40 and 60 percent respectively.

However, the  United States Federal Aviation Administration issued an emergency order Thursday prohibiting United States operators from flying in an overwater area of Tehran-controlled airspace over the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman “due to heightened military activities and increased political tensions in the region.”

Biden took to Twitter on “Best Friends Day” Saturday and put out a tweet memorializing their very warm bond. He tweeted an interlocking friendship bracelet with both their names to mark the occasion. The caption was simple: “Happy #BestFriendsDay to my friend, @BarackObama.”

However, as expected, the post did not certainly sit well with some on social media. Many said that the tweet was clearly self-serving and an effort to remind supporters of his Obama connection ahead of the 2020 elections.

David Axelrod, Obama’s former senior adviser, responded to the tweet, saying, “This is a joke, right?” Bill Kristol responded to Axelrod, “’Fraid not.”

It has been widely known that Barrack Obama and Joe Biden have a close friendship, regardless of the fact that Obama has yet to endorse him in the upcoming 2020 elections. The Daily Beast pointed out that Joe Biden said he requested that his former boss not endorse him to be fair to other candidates.

Their strong friendship is so well-documented that Vanity Fair has a slideshow of them that could be a montage in a movie.

The friendship was, by all means, appeared to be a very unlikely one. Joe Biden was blasted for describing Barrack Obama to The New York Observerin 2007 as “articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”

Biden, however, apologized for the remarks at the time and said that the quote was taken right out of context.

“Obama is probably the most exciting candidate that the Democratic or Republican Party has produced at least since I’ve been around, ” Biden said.

“And he’s fresh. He’s new. He’s smart. He’s insightful. And I really regret that some have taken totally out of context my use of the word ‘clean.'”