Trumping global peace

With an intemperate Donald Trump hopping from one crisis to another, his current actions and threats to North Korea and Iran have catastrophic implications for global peace. With his instinctual hatred for Barack Obama, Trump is in a tearing hurry to obliterate his legacy, including the epochal nuclear deal with Iran.

As per the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that Iran reached with the permanent members of Security Council and European Union in 2015, it should rein in nuclear activities and accept any additional restraints so that crippling sanctions on it could be waived. In last two years, EU and SC relented on some curbs.

The US President is required to certify that Iran deserves waiver of sanctions every three months and the deadline this time is October 15. Any refusal to certify would allow US Congress to slap sanctions again. Shoving Trump to go after Iran are Arab nations which are increasingly scary of Iran’s growing presence in the Middle East, since the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Saudis recently gifted Trump with defence deals worth billions of dollars. Trump is also under pressure from Israel as well to punish Iran. It may be recalled that during his campaign, Trump frequently slammed Obama for the Iran deal that sounded ludicrous to him.

Lending credence to apprehensions of his detractors, Trump and his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson even refused to meet Iranian counterparts at the recent UN General Assembly session. Against this background, it is strongly believed Trump seems to be readying to rip the Iran nuclear deal apart. Any antics by the head of most powerful nation would imperil world peace. Trump ought to go by International Atomic Energy Agency which has certified that Iran is complying with all terms.

Also, in contrast to North Korea which is suspected of possessing nuclear weapons and had engaged in a long volley of abuses with Trump himself, Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon. Iran’s assistance to the West in fighting off Islamic State in Iraq and its offer to do so in Syria as well should not be lost sight of. Moreover, its role could be crucial in undoing the Afghan conundrum too. Any adverse move against Iran would only push it closer to Russia and China. It could even brazenly go nuclear and seek to establish a Shiite Crescent from Afghanistan to Mediterranean, as is widely feared by the Arabs.

The JCPOA will see its second anniversary on October 18. Trump would do well not to queer pitch for it. Instead, he could hit two birds with one shot i.e., making Iran keep off nuclear arms and impel North Korea to see reason. Trump should not provide North Korea any impetus to reject talks offer, citing US unilateral move to get the better of Iran. Trump must show magnanimity towards small nations and take a big initiative to sustain world peace. But, with indications to the contrary, should Trump indulge in yet another shoot-from-the-hip manoeuvre, it would stoke disastrous consequences and may even spark a global conflict.