Today, Donald Trump will announce whether United States will leave Iran’s nuclear program agreement. According to the New York Times, the allies of the Old Continent failed to convince the American president that his decision risks to cause a new escalation between Tehran and the West. « The chances that Trump will announce that he will remain in the agreement are very small, » says one of the diplomats heard by the Times.
The Iran deal, negotiated during the administration of Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, eased economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran limiting its nuclear program. But Trump has called it the “worst deal ever negotiated” and he wants Britain, France and Germany – which also signed the pact along with Russia and China – to toughen up the terms.
Furthermore, Trump is ready to announce the reintroduction of some sanctions to hit Tehran, sanctions that had been frozen with the historic agreement on the nuclear program in 2015. According to the Washington Post, the American president is paving the way for new sanctions to the banks of countries that will not reduce imports of Iranian oil.
By refusing to waive sanctions without proving that Iran is violating the deal, Trump would effectively drop the agreement made by the United States. This affects the rest of the world because Trump can use powerful U.S. sanctions tools to compel foreign buyers to stop importing Iranian oil. European countries depreciate this decision as they would try to preserve the compromise with Iran, and they have not hidden their pessimism.
Maria Elena Argano
For further information:
Le Monde Website: http://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2018/05/08/nucleaire-iranien-trump-annoncera-sa-decision-mardi_5295769_3210.html
