The Irish Times view on Trump and the Iran deal: diplomatic vandalism
Irish Times
May 9, 2018
In trying to isolate Iran, the US president has instead cast America adrift
Donald Trump’s reckless decision to renege on the Iran nuclear deal will weaken the United States, benefit its adversaries, alienate its allies, accelerate nuclear proliferation and bring the world closer to war. Of all the foolish, self-defeating foreign policy decisions taken by the Trump White House – and there is quite a selection – none shows more starkly the dangers posed by a man who is now actively working against his own country’s interests – and those of the world at large.
Trump has given no indication that he understands the first thing about the deal. His scattergun objections have nothing to do with the text itself. He complains that Tehran has not lived up to “the spirit” of the accord because it has continued to test ballistic missiles and sponsor groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas. The nuclear deal was precisely that. It stopped Iran developing nuclear weapons in exchange for the easing of sanctions. But the unspoken hope was that, as relations between Tehran and the West improved, in time their discussions could widen to encompass other points of dispute. With this week’s decision, Trump has torpedoed that process and sent a signal to every other country – including North Korea, which he apparently hopes to tie into the sort of nuclear deal he has just torn up – that Washington will not make good on its commitments.
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/editorial/the-irish-times-view-on-trump-and-the-iran-deal-diplomatic-vandalism-1.3489085
