Trump’s JCPOA Withdrawal

By: Asad Hussain

Explaining the future of Iran Nuclear Deal

The political earthquake that occurred in the United States with President Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Deal (P5+1) has severely jolted the international politics. If we cast a glance over the history of this Deal – also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – since 2015, we find that almost the entire world endorsed and embraced the agreement between Iran and P5+1 with an open heart. The majority of America’s European allies also voted in favour of the deal. However, sticking to his campaign promise, President Trump has torn it up and has materialized the narrative of his Republican base; without even taking into account the response from Iran that could bring the entire world on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe.

A CNN report outlined that around 62.5 percent US population has supported the Iran Nuclear Deal and only 28 percent voted against it. The significant statistics which unveil the reality of Trump’s decision are that nearly 51 percent of Republicans, overwhelmingly representing Trump’s power base, remained firmly against this deal.

A practical and rational analysis of Trump’s decision raises a question: if deal with Iran to abandon its nuclear designs has failed to yield desirable results, what would be the way to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions and barricade the damming indictment?

Iran was strictly in compliance with the deal. The opinion of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the five signatories of the deal and even the American officials showed that they were deeply satisfied with Iranian cooperation in this regard. The US media also expressed uncertainty on Trump’s possible move on the way forward or indication of any further deal to deal with this conundrum.

On the other hand, Trump strongly opposed Iran’s “anti-peace and suffocating manoeuvres” in the Middle East. He strongly lashed out on Iranian regime and warned of severe economic and diplomatic isolation in the region.

Pursuing it further, it would be naïve to consider Trump’s move irrelevant and baseless. Though Trump lacks professionalism and intelligence, and hardly amplifies political exposure, he has clear viewpoint on what he is doing. His hostile decisions and strategies clearly bring out his nefarious designs to oust the incumbent regime in Iran. He has appointed John Bolton, who has been yearning to bring a regime change in Iran for many years. His National Security Adviser (NSA), Mike Pompeo, the former head of CIA and current Secretary of State is also considered a hawk, especially in matters related to Iran.

To further aggravate the already fragile situation, besides other reasons, Saudi Arabia and Israel, the staunch opponents of Iran, have also lobbied vigorously to make Trump administration come hard on Iran and pull US out of the nuclear deal. Trump has targeted the issue of the credibility of this deal as it, according to him, failed to limit Iran’s ballistic missiles capabilities.

Moreover, Trump has also made another argument in his speech that American cities are directly under the threat of Iranian missiles. It seems another lie because no Iranian has been found involved in any terrorist attack on the American soil. It seems that Trump wants to trap the American public in the misconception that Iranian government is preparing to attack the USA.

The is no denying the impression that Trump has never agreed to stick with the Iran Nuclear Deal and he always wanted to exterminate all policies and aspects of Obama administration, but his uncalculated and unilateral decisions can harbour a wave of dangerous repercussions for the entire world. The international community, especially the United Nations, has also been tellingly indifferent to resolving the damming issue and stopping the US from implementing its hegemonic designs against Iran.