Trump Further Isolates America as Global Community Ignores & Ridicules Iran "Snapback" Sanctions
President Trump signed an executive order yesterday to impose a variety of sanctions on Iran, and other nations, individuals, and companies that sell them conventional arms, arguing that Tehran is in violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [Iran Nuclear Deal]. The other signatories to the deal in Europe, Germany, France, and Britain, along with China, Russia and the European Union all responded by reminding Trump that because he withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal without legal justification, America has no authority to enforce it.
The Guardian: "Both the UN secretary general, António Guterres, and the vast majority of the 15-strong UN security council have insisted the US does not have the legal power to take the steps under the banner of the UN. France, Germany and the UK said in a joint statement that the US move was incapable of having legal effect."
Washington Post: "The foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany, which helped negotiate the deal, underscored their rejection of the U.S. position in a joint statement Sunday, saying the United States gave up its right to have a say in U.N. sanctions. Josep Borrell, the foreign policy chief of the European Union, pleaded for the agreement to be preserved and urged all parties “to refrain from any action that could be perceived as an escalation in the current situation.”
The UN is scheduled to lift the embargo on the sale of conventional weapons to Iran in the middle of October, and both China and Russia appear ready to provide Tehran with a variety of conventional arms. Trump's latest sanctions are unlikely to deter either nation and China openly ridiculed the administration's position on Sunday, tweeting, "US unilateral announcement on the return of UN sanctions on IRAN is devoid of any legal, political or practical effect. ... It's time to end the political drama by the US."
The Trump administration's actions will be widely ignored, but that's probably not the point. The President needs some way to save face after his strategy to force Iran to renegotiate the Nuclear Deal now seems like a colossal blunder that increased tensions in the region.
The EU and other US allies have encouraged Trump to reconsider his position before tensions boil over into another bloody Middle-East war that would engulf the entire region. They also want the President to know that they wouldn't support a military strike in Iran to destroy their nuclear facilities.
By: Don Lam & Curated Content
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