More than reflective of the any other foreign policy issue, the Iran nuclear deal exposes the hypocrisy of the Trump administration’s policy toward Iran, which seems to vacillate between hardline rhetoric and bolshy diplomatic overtures.
As the relations reach another impasse, Washington now finds itself painted into a peculiar corner – having to choose between further strangling Iran with sanctions, or being forced to impose sanctions on the P5+1 signatories to the JCPOA nuclear agreement, who happen to all be permanent members of the UN Security Council.
As it stands now, the nuclear waivers issued to international partners are one of the last remaining vestiges of the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement. Removing them would criminalize any country who chooses to remain in the multilateral treaty.
In July, Trump dispatched Sen. Rand Paul to meet with Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif. Similarly, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also indicated that he would be willing to go to Tehran to meet with Iranian officials.
More oddly still, Trump then tweeted the following this week: “Just remember, the Iranians never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!” – leaving both critics and allies confused as to where the President is heading with regards to American-Iranian relations.
Just remember, the Iranians never won a war, but never lost a negotiation!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2019
Antiwar.com reports…
The Trump Administration is about to disappoint a lot of people who see an easy path toward war with Iran, by allowing reason to prevail on international waivers for civil nuclear cooperation with Iran. The waivers will be renewed.
The waivers cover all five remaining parties of the P5+1 nuclear deal, and gives America’s blessing on those nations continuing to cooperate with Iran’s civilian program. Mike Pompeo and John Bolton both objected to the waivers being renewed.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, however, noted that if the sanction waivers weren’t renewed, and all those nations stayed in the treaty, the US would be setting itself up to have to start imposing sanctions against every permanent UN Security Council member, and Germany, and target a bunch of companies who got involved in projects when the US was still party to the deal.
Needless to say, that would be a big problem for the US, and Trump ultimately decided not to chance it. At the same time, Pompeo and Bolton both saw this as another big chance to worsen US ties with Iran, continuing the two down a path to war that they’ve been long working for.
READ MORE IRAN NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Iran Files
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