Trump's terrible mistake

By Hanif Ghafari

TEHRAN, Aug. 20 (MNA) – The strategic and unjustifiable mistake of the United States President, Donald Trump, in his withdrawal from the nuclear deal and imposing secondary sanctions against Iran, is now discussed in different circles. Many western media and news sources speak of Trump's terrible mistake in this regard.

They believe that by this decision, Trump was isolated in the international system, and failed to have other players' agreement in cooperating with him to put sanctions on Iran, and thus failed to achieve his economic goals against the Islamic Republic. In other words, Western media and analysts believe that, despite the fact that Trump's economic pressures on Iran are more severe than in the time of Obama, he will be less successful than his predecessor in pursuing his economic goals in confrontation with Tehran.

Recently, the Financial Times emphasized in a statement that "this newspaper supported the Iran nuclear deal and continues to believe that the Trump administration was wrong to abandon an agreement that halted Iran’s progress towards nuclear weapons."

Trump's mistake in pulling out of the nuclear deal and opposing Iran can be analyzed both politically and economically. Trump's European allies believe that by walking out of the nuclear deal, the US president, has actually put the principle of multilateralism in the international system under question.

Financial Times writes accordingly; "President Donald Trump’s offer to Tehran of unconditional talks suggests that the diplomatic path has not been totally cut off. Iran will be extremely reluctant to make further concessions on the nuclear issue and is unlikely to abandon its regional allies in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq."

The Financial Times then continues and emphasizes on the overall support of European countries for the continuation of the nuclear deal with Iran. This newspaper has written that Britain, along with France and Germany, promised to remain as part of the nuclear deal and to support companies that are investing in Iran.

The FT states that "The main weapon the EU has developed is an updated version of a “blocking statute” originally drawn up in the 1990s to counter US sanctions on Iran, Libya and Cuba. The law forbids European companies from complying with the US measures and allows them to recover damages arising from the sanctions “from the person causing them”.

The fact is that, according to the Financial Times and other western news sources, Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran will have heavy expenses for the United States. The isolation of Washington in the international system has now reached its peak.

Trump's specific economic policies against European players, China, Russia and ... have also exacerbated this trend. So far, many American analysts have warned about Trump's deterrent policies in the US foreign policy and economics. However, by picking up people such as Bolton and Pompeo, Trump has shown that he isn't basically paying any attention to these warnings, and once he realizes that, there is no longer any opportunities to make up for his mistakes.