The Trump administration ploughs ahead with attempts to wreck the Iran nuclear deal
Today the US announced the “toughest ever” sanctions on Iran, reinstating economic measures on oil, banking and shipping that were removed through the historic 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Although fresh sanctions were expected after the US withdrew from the deal in May, the severity of the sanctions indicates Trump’s determination to ramp up US confrontation with Iran. Other signatories to the Iran deal – including the UK, Germany and France – have objected to the sanctions.
Iran is likely to interpret the sanctions as an offensive measure, a return to the days when Bush described Iran as part of an ‘axis of evil’ and the threat of military intervention was high.
It’s within this context that Iran may now lose faith in the deal, despite the reassurances of the other signatories. The loss of confidence in the deal may not be immediate, but if sanctions are damaging it may be a matter of when rather than if. The collapse of diplomacy and the threat of military intervention could see Iran conclude that a nuclear weapons system is now needed.
With the future of the deal hanging in the balance, CND calls on the British government to do everything it can to save this historic agreement and maintain this crucial element of international non-proliferation efforts.