With the decision of unilaterally withdrawing from the multi-national accord with Iran, it can be said that President Donald Trump is being true to form.
Traders of war who supported him during the election, racists with still unfulfilled yearning for aggression into the Arab countries in the name of terrorism , and countries including Israel who have enough of both, may be elated at the sign of Trump's election promises being fulfilled. On the other pole lies the world whose main regret is that its biggest ammunition is at the finger tips of an imbecile leader. It was in 2015 that the then US President Barack Obama took the lead to bring together Iran, Britain, France, Japan, Germany, China and Russia together with the UN who framed a nuclear deal. As per the deal known as JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) , Iran agreed to stop activities likely to lead to manufacture of nuclear arms; reciprocally, the other countries agreed to lift the embargo on Iran. The world welcomed this. However, during the election - and even after that - the Israeli lobby that used to do Trump's back-seat driving has been active all through. Those who entered the Trump cabinet recently like Mike Mompeo and John Bolton, are people endowed with typical Iranophobia and bellicosity. Trump who raised battle cries against North Korea like a Don Quixote of a mythical era, proved himself to be a puppet in the hands of such puppeteers . The only thing new is that the jokes got serious now. European countries are in the scene opposing Trump's withdrawal. At the same time, Israel, Saudi Arabia and UAE have welcomed Trumps's step - a sign that the strategy to widen the Shia-Sunni divide is finding some success.
It is all too evident that the consequences of this decision will be grave. It will be even against US's own interests. As Iran President Hassan Rouhani comments, Trump's act is a strange self-sabotage which has made a no small dent on the credibility of the US. This policy change will even pave the way for yet another war in West asia. Even as it is fraught with grave consequences, the justification cited as basis for the decision are most irrational and ridiculous. It is too early to forget the lies let out by former US President George W Bush to justify his attack on Iraq, that Iraq was producing weapons of mass destruction and it had links with Al-Qaeda. Trump too throws around similar lies, that Iran is producing nuclear weapons, it has connections with the 11 September attacks. But several reports of US itself contradict those 'terrorist'allegations. There is no evidence that those accused of the September 11 attacks, i.e. Al-Qaeda or Taliban, had any links with Iran, as accused by Trump. On the contrary, there is evidence of Iran having helped America against them. Another falsehood is that Iran is secretly producing nuclear weapons. But the reports ranging from that of former CIA Director Panetta to US National Intelligence Estimates, give a different account. And former head of Israeli security agency Shin Bit, Yuval Diskin, former Israeli deputy chief of staff Benny Ganz, and former Israeli defence minister Yehud Barak are people who have asserted that Iran does not have a nuclear weapons programme. And Al-Baradi, former head of UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had confirmed that there was not a shred of evidence of Iran having such a weapons programme. As for the recent 'shocking' revelation by Israeli prime miniser Netanyahu of 'documentary evidence of Iran's nuclear programme', the documents were in fact old documents in the public domain – that too dismissed after inspection by IAEA. And as European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini points out, there is no credible evidence against Iran in any of these.
Allegations built on untruths - and decisions based on them - have in fact make US a laughing stock of the world. However, the damage it can wreak on the world is no laughing matter. Any embargo on Iran will adversely affect global oil industry and world economy. Like 'the terrorism against terrorism' indulged in by US so far, this too will beget more terrorism. This is a time when countries like India, having strong economic relations with Iran, should uphold their own interests and the shared interest of humanity in general. It has to be conveyed through word and deed that the unilateral actions by the US Administration are not acceptable. It is a need of the hour to convince Trump that the world has no binding to accept his whimsical decisions as such. And that is also what the interest of countries including India dictates.