From the Independent:
““There’s something wrong with them,” Trump said of the Iranian government. “I don’t like them,” he added. It is unclear whether Trump has actually killed his own deal or simply said what came to his mind at that very minute. Perhaps he doesn’t know himself. But if this was his last word, it will cost the Republicans at the midterms, if that’s something he still worries about. It will be even more dangerous for the Middle East, and traditional US allies. But it’s definitely bad for the Iranians. ”
“This, in a way, is about legacy for Trump. If he cannot be the president of peace, he will settle for fear and respect. But it is surely destabilising. Trump’s disparaging comments about Iran’s leaders could firm up Iran’s zeal to charge a fee from ships navigating the strait – just days after some of the shippers took a chance and sailed through the treacherous waters.
But his threat will be music to the ears of Israel’s security establishment. Israel said it wasn’t bound by the agreement and lobbied for harder terms. For one, Israel didn’t want Iran to veto its actions in Lebanon, but it was also sceptical of what sounded more like a gentlemen’s agreement than a genuine monitoring mechanism. ”
“Israel wanted firm procedures on the extraction and relocation of 400kg of highly-enriched uranium suspected to be under Iranian control, rather than taking Tehran at its word that it won’t build a nuclear weapon. “All enriched material must leave Iran,” Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s PM, has said.
The sort of nitty-gritty details on Iran’s nuclear programme, which was punted into the long grass by this ceasefire deal to be discussed later, equally bothers European allies. The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has highlighted the importance of “deeper negotiations” on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Those allies certainly weren’t expecting Iran to hog the headlines at the summit. They had hoped to focus on Nato and to keep Trump on board by promising billions in tow for American defence manufacturers. ”
“But the summit hasn’t begun well. Trump is still unhappy with what he saw as European betrayal on Iran. “Nobody wanted to help,” he said as he threatened to pull out all US troops – 80,000-plus – from the continent and to cut off all trade ties with Spain. Key European countries, including France, Germany and the UK, refused to back the US and Israel’s war on Iran and to engage offensively, quietly opening their bases to the US later and hoping that would be enough to assuage Trump. It was not.
As Trump upped the ante and renewed the threat to annex Greenland, the summit is going downhill for the Europeans. Rutte, widely described as a Trump whisperer, might have a trick up his sleeve. He described the US strikes on Iran as “absolutely necessary” and said that Iran would be the top discussion point in Ankara. ”
“Could he be trying to divert Trump’s attention from the question of European support on Iran to Iran’s violations? In the run-up to the summit, top diplomatic sources told me the focus would be on burden shifting – that’s code for Europeans replacing a large chunk of US assets and troops.
That focus has clearly been pulled. The day is not yet over, and allies must tread carefully as Trump’s Iran anger might yet blow Nato apart – again. ”
Excerpt From
“Voices: Donald Trump’s temper tantrum has just killed off his own Iran deal – and this is why”
Anchal Vohra
The Independent
https://apple.news/A82sM9y7iR5eub0CGs4EJag