[ad_1]
Ishaan Tharoor
Reporter covering foreign affairs, geopolitics and history
Want an intelligent analysis of the most important news in your inbox every day of the week, as well as other global readings, interesting ideas and opinions to know? Sign up for the Today & # 39; s WorldView newsletter.
Lightweight Round Table (Eduardo Munoz)
Even the most optimistic supporters of President Trump would find it difficult to classify his performances at the United Nations this week as a success..
We will remember his speech Tuesday at the United States General Assembly the mocking laughter that followed his assertion that the Trump administration has, up to now, "accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country".
The following day, Trump chaired a United States Security Council session on weapons of mass destruction and non-proliferation, hoping to strengthen his support for his administration's tough stance on the Iranian nuclear deal. "This horrific, one-sided deal allowed Iran to continue on its path to a bomb and gave the regime a lifeline when it needed it most," complained Trump. "They had big problems. They needed money. We gave them. "
Instead, virtually every other member country has revolted in turn against the United States for undermining the nuclear deal with Tehran. Trump's withdrawal from the Iran agreement and the reimposition of sanctions against Iran have been condemned by politicians ranging from the President of Peru to the Vice President of Cote d'Ivoire to Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister.
Bolivian President Evo Morales launched the most stinging attack, citing decades of malicious US interference in the Middle East, and then attacked Trump for acts such as the separation of migrant parents from their children to the US-Mexican border. The United States, said Morales, "do not care about human rights or justice". Trump could only thank Morales for his remarks.
If America's allies were more polite, they seemed hardly more impressed. British Prime Minister Theresa May insisted that the terms of the nuclear deal were "the best way to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon".
"For many years, the scale and nature of the Iranian nuclear program has raised serious international concerns. The JCPOA was an important step forward in their resolution, "said May, using the official abbreviation of the agreement reached between Iran and the world powers.
"We always keep the same goal in mind, namely to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and to guarantee strict international control over the peaceful use of its nuclear program," said the French president. Emmanuel Macron. go in that exact direction. "
Meanwhile, European leaders have announced plans to reduce the effects of US sanctions on Iran, which will develop in November. The effectiveness of these countermeasures is unclear, with the Trump administration threatening to take punitive action against any government or company that has circumvented the sanctions. A large number of leading European companies have already decided that trade with Iran may not be worth the risk of legal battles with Washington.
Trump's rhetoric and unilateral decision-making allowed Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to play the role of a law-abiding victim, adhering to an agreement the White House unwisely rejected.
In his remarks to the General Assembly, Mr. Rouhani denounced the Trump administration's disregard for the type of multilateral decision-making that defines international institutions such as the United Nations. "Confronting multilateralism is not a sign of strength, but rather a symptom of intellectual weakness," Rouhani said.
Commenting on Trump's comments to the Security Council, May said, "Even the most powerful have recognized that investing in rules-based collective restrictions was the only effective way to respond to national security and security interests." avoid the unilateral use of force.
Analysts warned against a dramatic "reversal of the scenario" at the United Nations. "The President of the United States is deprived of influence, while Rouhani invokes the legitimacy and legality of the international system that the United States has built. It's not a happy event, "wrote David Wade of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He added that "Trump has isolated the United States instead of isolating Iran".
The White House may not be too bothered by all this. At a press conference on Wednesday night, Trump is mocked "It does not matter what the world's leaders think of Iran." And many within the administration have no love for the UN and its processes, heavy with rhetoric but often light in action.
In addition, the economic realities weigh on the support enjoyed today by Tehran. This week, it appeared that India, the largest importer of Iranian oil, would probably respect sanctions on Iranian oil exports that will come into effect in November.
But Trump still has no real diplomatic strategy, that it 'sa new deal with Tehran or a host of other grievances. Critics say the president is much more concerned about his political image as disrupting the status quo than the actual work involved in reshuffling existing contracts to his advantage.
"Most presidents would describe a plan to deal with Iran after the nuclear deal, or to transform NATO to deal with the threat of authoritarian states, or to resolve the trade war," writes Thomas Wright. "But Trump is not a detail or course correction. In his world, there was a problem, so he did something quickly. And now, it is solved. To say something else, is to suggest the unthinkable – that he's not a magician.
On Iran, Trump is convinced that his approach will change the regime's behavior in the Middle East. But others worry about a deeper and more destabilizing reaction. "We have tried sanctions over the years," said Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom. "We tried isolation, and that only gave more power to the most conservative forces of Iran."
It is unlikely that Trump will take this message into account. By the time Wallstrom spoke, he had already left the room.
Want an intelligent analysis of the most important news in your inbox every day of the week, as well as other global readings, interesting ideas and opinions to know? Sign up for the Today & # 39; s WorldView newsletter.
[ad_2]Source link
