Baku, Azerbaijan, July 19
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva – Trend:
Yesterday, it became known that the US announced a new round of sanctions against Iran as punishment for developing its ballistic missile program and continuing support of terrorism. According to a statement of the US Department of State, Iran’s malign activities across the Middle East undermine regional stability, security, and prosperity. In total, 18 entities and individuals fell under sanctions.
The fact that the US will extend the sanctions became clear much earlier – after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stated the failure of the agreement on the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program.
The US not only do not trust Iran in the missile program issue and suspect it of having links with terrorists, but also do not believe that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, adopted in Vienna in 2015, will be able to suspend the Iranian nuclear program in general. According to the administration of US President Donald Trump, the nuclear deal only postpones transformation of the country into a nuclear power, and nuclear ambitions of Tehran continue to pose a major threat to global peace and security.
Unfortunately, questioning the success of the nuclear deal that was worked on by Western countries and Iranian politicians to finally reach a compromise, the US can make a fatal mistake. The US can engender doubts in the people and Supreme Leader of Iran concerning the success of the incumbent president’s policy, which will eventually result in the return of Iran’s conservatives to power, with whom it will be impossible to agree in principle.
The previous US administration once made such a mistake by making the wrong bet with regard to the Middle East leaders, which led to tragic consequences, for example, in Egypt.
Moreover, declaring the nuclear deal failure, the Trump administration is pushing Iran to ban any IAEA inspections that are currently the only instrument of control over the nuclear program. Many years of sanctions did not yield any results – Iran came to an agreement with the West only after a gentleman's agreement, under which all parties had to be committed to their obligations until the end.
Therefore, it is, at least, naive to expect that after the cancellation of the nuclear deal, the new sanctions will make Tehran submissive and obedient. However, the new US administration has a unique approach to the country’s foreign policy interests and their realization, and, unfortunately, sometimes this approach may lead to irreversible and not-so-bright consequences.