Trump poised to walk away from Iran nuclear deal

If Donald Trump decides this week to withdraw his endorsement of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, its fate and the potential for a major conflict will be determined by a complex battle in Congress, The Guardian reported.

No one is able to predict whether that struggle will lead to a re-imposition of US sanctions, the collapse of the agreement and the rapid scaling-up of Iran’s nuclear programme. It could result in a compromise that leaves the deal alive but opens the way for a more combative policy towards Tehran on other fronts.

“We are on a tightrope. We don’t know what will happen,” a western diplomat said.

The congressional contest will pit most Republicans against almost all Democrats, hawks against doves, and will be played out under rules drawn up for a completely different set of circumstances.

The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) of 2015 was designed for a situation in which Iran was breaking the international agreement signed in July of that year, and a US administration was trying to cover up Tehran violations as a means of preserving the accord.

The actual situation is one in which Iran is agreed by all signatories, including the US, to be abiding by its obligations, but the US president appears determined to kill off the deal regardless. To add another level of complication, neither the Republican majority nor the president wants to be seen as the assassin that inflicts the death blow.

Source: MENA