Trump's 'undiplomatic' style regarding Iran may backfire on US - expert

By  Trend

Nobody can know for sure what the consequences of Washington-Tehran growing tensions would be as US President Donald Trump has been fairly unpredictable and full of surprises, a US academic, author, historian, and international relations scholar said while commenting on the possibility of US declaring Iran’s non-compliance with the JCPOA, aka the nuclear deal.

“It now seems quite possible, if not likely, that he will declare Iran non-compliant in the near future,” Robert English, an associate professor of International Foreign Policy and Defense Analysis at the University of Southern California, told Trend.

However, the expert believes that this could be very problematic, and complicate the US relations with many countries unnecessarily.

“European allies will not follow along, and so it will cause a Transatlantic rift. On top of disagreements over policy toward Russia is a dispute over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline which could become yet another source of serious friction,” he said.

Taken altogether, Trump could be poised to alienate the allies he needs globally, just as he seems to alienate the allies he needs in the US Senate domestically, according to the expert.

“His style is proving to be a very aggressive, 'undiplomatic' and that could backfire on the US,” he added.

Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia – plus Germany signed the nuclear deal on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.

The agreement limits Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all nuclear-related bans against the Islamic Republic.

The US Congress requires the administration’s certification (every 90 days) of Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal. Trump’s administration has already declared Iran in compliance, as required by law, twice during his tenure.

Nonetheless, Trump’s remarks forecasting that the US would declare Iran non-compliant when the next review is due in September, have cast shadow over the future of the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers.