Trump’s Iran deal folly

You know a deal is concerning when voices on both the left and right are expressing concerns about it.

When Barack Obama announced the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015 to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, we rightly criticised that deal for its inability to truly stop the Islamic Regime from working towards building a nuclear weapon and for not addressing its belligerence on other fronts. Trump, in his first term, withdrew from that accord.

So it is with no small irony that we now watch Trump prepare to walk the very path he once condemned. The reported framework of this new deal takes Tehran at its word that it won’t develop nuclear weapons and leaves a 60-day window before a final agreement where it just might race to do so.

Money will flow to Tehran through sanctions relief and other means with no expectation the regime halts its regional aggression. We know where that money will go; straight into the hands of the Islamic Republic’s terror proxies so that they can continue destabilising the Middle East.

Sold out too are the Iranian people, who begged the international community for assistance as tens of thousands were slaughtered in January, only to hear empty promises that Trump was coming to help.

Perhaps even more alarming is the manner in which Trump negotiated this deal, by sidelining Israel – the party with the most direct security concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and its sponsoring of regional terror groups – completely.

The US president even suggested that Israel cease operations in Lebanon – even as Hezbollah continues to terrorise the citizens of northern Israel with Iran’s backing.

And it would seem that none of the goals of the war that the United States, together with Israel, launched in late February to deal with Iran’s nuclear program and wider aggression for good, have actually been met.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may insist the war was a success, but few are buying it. Netanyahu himself even admitted on Monday that he doesn’t know what is in the deal.

Israeli citizens, once enamoured with Trump, are now beginning to doubt he has their back.

There is no doubting Trump was a great friend to Israel during his first term, with a list of achievements deserving of praise. Early in his second term, he oversaw the the deal that saw Israel’s last hostages released from Gaza.

But it would seem that the unpredictable Trump has either caved into domestic pressure, simply grown bored of Israel, or perhaps a combination of both.

That’s fine for Trump, who is not in Iran’s direct line of fire; but it is Israel that will bear the brunt.