This will be a way for the President to keep the deal in place while at the same time ensuring that more pressure is applied on the Iranian regime. Trump would work with allies in Europe and Congress to ensure the correct and appropriate policy is adopted.
Trump has been very outspoken about the deal and at the recent United Nations General Assembly he criticised its one-sidedness and said that it was an “embarrassment” to the United States.
The nuclear deal was signed in 2015 between Iran and major world powers. It was a product of former President Obama looking for his legacy.
The Iranian regime got everything it wanted from the negotiations and it got a deal that provided numerous concessions. Obama, who led the negotiations, wanted to ensure the Islamic Republic would end up signing the deal, so conceded on for too many issues.
The crippling economic sanctions that the United States had slapped on Iran were lifted as a result of the signing of the deal. This freed up billions of dollars for the Iranian regime that has proceeded to plunder it on terrorism, conflicts abroad and its military and numerous proxies.
With this new strategy, it will allow President Trump to continue speaking about his contempt for the nuclear deal which will be followed up with harsh action to tackle the problematic areas that urgently need addressed. This way, the international chaos that would follow if the nuclear deal collapsed would be avoided.
Several administration officials have hinted at the strategy and earlier this week Secretary of Defense James Mattis spoke about how the deal is in US interests and Trump should stay in. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford also said that the deal has delayed Iran’s “development of a nuclear capability”.
The Iranian regime warned that if sanctions were reimposed, its nuclear program would be restarted and analysts fear that this could lead to a military confrontation in the near future.
Trump’s obligation to inform Congress about Iran’s compliance every 90 days is not just about Iran’s technical obligations to the deal; it is also about ensuring that the agreement is still “vital to the national security interests of the United States”.
It is expected that US policy will target Iran’s militias and Iranian-backed terrorist groups, in particular the Lebanese Hezbollah. The financial aspect will be what is most affected.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is also expected to be classed as a foreign terrorist organisation (FT). This would be the first time that a military wing of a regime would have been designated. The IRGC is in control of a large portion of the country’s economy and is responsible for many human rights abuses.
