Trump Pulling US Out of Iran Deal
Once again, Donald Trump is pushing measures to reverse the accomplishments of the Obama Administration. In this case, he is taking action to remove the US from the Agreement made between Iran, the United States and several key partners including Russia, China and several European Nations. No other country has joined the United States in taking this action, making the move essentially feckless.
Just before President Trump announced on Friday that he would decertify the Iran nuclear deal, French President Emmanuel Macron called his counterpart in Tehran to offer reassurance, Macron’s office said in a statement. No matter what Trump said, he told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Europe would continue to back the agreement.
The Eureopeans were only interested in Iran’s money, Trump scoffed to reporters later that day. Macron, he said, had also called him.
“I said: ‘Look, Emmanuel, they just gave Renault a lot of money,’ ” Trump related, referring to a recent business deal between Iran and the French carmaker. “ ‘Take their money; enjoy yourselves. But we’ll see what happens.’”
What has already happened is a widening chasm of mutual disdain between the United States and its traditional allies. Trump sees them as self-interested freeloaders who must be reminded of U.S. power. They see him as an erratic force who must be managed as he squanders American leadership.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers were largely split in their reactions to Trump’s announcement that he would terminate the nuclear deal if Congress didn’t come up with a way to rewrite it to his liking. Many Republicans congratulated the president and agreed it was time to get tough against Iran.
Many Democrats criticized Trump for what Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) said was “clearly a political decision” made to please his base voters “and not a strategic one.” Reed and others warned that Trump’s insistence on changing the original agreement risked conflict and would be opposed by U.S. negotiating partners who had also signed it — Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.
When Trump invited them to join him in holding Iran’s feet to the fire, Russia and China said there was nothing to talk about. The Europeans, in a joint statement, said they were eager to discuss their shared complaints about Iran — its ballistic missile program and support for terrorism — but that there could be no changes in the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.
