(MENAFN- Trend News Agency ) Tehran, Iran, October 13
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
The governments and companies of Europe are an indispensable part of how US President Donald Trump decides his Iran policy, an economy expert believes.
According to what he has promised, Trump is expected to lay out a more confrontational strategy towards Iran in a speech, where he is likely to strike a blow at an international Iran nuclear deal, complicating US relations with European allies.
'Whether Trump walks out of the deal outright or adopts a lesser policy, the views of Europeans is sure to have played a big role in his decision,' Ata Hakimi told Trend October 13.
Some US officials said Trump was expected to announce that he will not certify the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, believing the agreement is not in the national interests of the United States. He had certified it twice before but aides said (whose? trumps? other officials? his maid? who?) he was reluctant to do so a third time.
However, reports state that in the meantime, the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, an ex-businessman, formerly the CEO of Exxon Mobil, has been working behind the scenes to head off the possibility of an international crisis in relation to the Iran deal, aka Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Tillerson began calling his counterparts, including French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, to inform them of Trump's decision on whether he'll certify to the US Congress that Iran is complying with the multinational accord that eased sanctions on the Islamic Republic in return for curbs on its nuclear program.
According to Hakimi, Trump's decision must have well incorporated the views of European allies, which have already signed multi-billion deals with Iran under the umbrella of the JCPOA.
The core of the disagreement between Trump and the Europeans is over the scope of the accord. Trump's argument is that there's no point sticking to an agreement on Iran's nuclear program while it's also engaging in ballistic missile development.
However, the EU has a different view.
'The deal was only about one issue,' David O'Sullivan, the EU ambassador to the US, recently said. 'We never attempted to resolve all the issues that we have with Iran.'
Also, the European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Monday said, 'We will continue to make sure that the deal with Iran is fully implemented by all sides.'
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel this week said that he was deeply concerned about Trump's possible decision to exit the JCPOA, adding that treating Iran as if it was developing nuclear weapons would result in 'nothing' good.
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