Trump remains unescorted in anti-JCPOA moves

Ultimately, US President Donald Trump, in what was more a controversial speech, accused Iran of not complying with the nuclear deal and charged the US Treasury and Congress with the task of joining hands with Iran in order to resolve shortcomings of the international agreement also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The US president stated that “Iran has violated the agreement for several times. For instance, the volume of their enriched materials has exceeded the specified limit. We will impose new sanctions on Iran to stop its support for terrorism. We will block all routes of nuclear weapons for the Iranian regime.”

A number of points need to be addressed regarding recent remarks made by Trump. First and foremost, president of the US failed to raise any legal or technical claim to prove that Iran has violated the N-deal. Eight reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirming Iran’s nuclear activities had reduced maneuvering power of Trump. Moreover, his claim on increased amount of materials enriched by Iran was incompatible with IAEA reports.

Over recent weeks, people like US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have repeatedly warned Trump that he needs sufficient legal evidence to accuse Iran of violating the deal, while there exists no such evidence! Nevertheless, Trump insisted on his view under influence of the AIPAC lobby and radicals inside his government, such as United States Representative Nicky Haley.

Secondly, Trump delivered a speech on the occasion of a dispute among US officials and even in the Republican camp about the president’s attempt to deal with the nuclear deal. The controversy was so much that Trump, in part of his remarks, warned the Congress about consequences of non-cooperation over tackling deficiencies of the JCPOA.

Undoubtedly, at a time when the US national security advisor and the US defense and foreign ministers are opposed to Trump’s strategy towards the nuclear deal, American senators and subsequent members of the House of Representatives are bound to become confused. The recent week controversy between Trump and the Republican Senator Bob Corker, who is responsible for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, confirms the same issue.

The third point is that the President of the United States, who had virtually failed to achieve his goal in convincing Washington’s partners to modify the JCPOA during his recent UNGA speech, this time warned the European authorities in his Friday remarks. Trump’s warning on unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal can also be analyzed in the same vein.

Although some European partners of Washington have shown faint green lights on the issue, Trump still has not achieved his ultimate goal, which is absolute co-sponsorship of the European Troika on reforming the JCPOA.

The last but not the least is that words of Donald Trump were replete with anger and lacked convincing or legal propositions. He repeated the same banal remarks of other American officials on Iran.

Trump’s speech on the nuclear deal had more of media and promotional nature than a strategic one.

Anger and rage were the main focus of Trump’s words in opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran and the JCPOA. Donald Trump’s annoyances with Iran, the Congress, European Allies and even with his own foreign and defense ministers were all manifest and crystal clear through Friday speech by the much-hated US president.

Obviously, any action by the United States, including the Congress and the White House and the Treasury, in deforming the N-deal will mean Washington’s withdrawal from the international agreement; an issue that will preserve Islamic Republic of Iran’s right for counter measures. 

Translated by: Mohammad Hossein Azari