Chances of war with Iran are rising. And Donald Trump is to blame
Chances of war with Iran are rising. And Donald Trump is to blame
The Trump administration is goading Iran into a conflict, and no one should expect Iran to back down
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/09/donald-trump-iran-nuclear-deal-blame?utm_term=RWRpdG9yaWFsX0d1YXJkaWFuVG9kYXlVUy0xOTA1MDk%3D&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&CMP=GTUS_email
Donald Trump is doing everything possible to provoke a conflict with Iran while making it look like Iran’s fault.
A year ago, Trump withdrew the United States from the deal that has successfully stopped Iran from getting nuclear weapons – despite the IAEA and even the Trump administration confirming Iran was abiding by the agreement. The day Trump took the United States out of the deal, he lit the fuse of a potential crisis.
Ever since, Trump has been blowing on the fuse, trying to speed things up. The United States imposed sanctions on Iranian banks and shipping companies, attempting to squeeze the Iranian economy. Recently, the Trump administration announced it would no longer grant waivers for the sanctions to some America’s closest partners, including South Korea and Japan.
And yet, those who helped build the Iran deal have tried to save it. Europe, China, and Russia worked with Iran to maintain the deal, and for a year Iran continued to comply despite America’s withdrawal and pressure. For a period, it seemed as though other countries would keep the deal alive and wait out the Trump administration.
Time, however, may now be up. In recent days, the United States has significantly ratcheted up what had already been red-hot rhetoric on Iran. In sending a carrier strike group and bomber task force to the region, John Bolton, the national security adviser, said: “The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack.”
The deployment was supposedly in response to what Bolton described as “a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings”, and Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, made an urgent trip to Iraq to address the possibility of Iranian attacks. However, one US official described the administration’s response as “overreacting”.
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It is easy to see through the Trump administration’s lies. Trump claims to want to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon but withdrew from the very deal that had stopped Iran from obtaining one. Trump officials claim to be supporting the aspirations of the Iranian people, but the sanctions hurt the Iranian people first and foremost, and Trump is still banning average Iranians from visiting the United States.
The Trump administration is goading Iran into a conflict, and no one should expect Iran to back down. Today America is less safe because of Trump’s actions on Iran, and the chances for war are rising.
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