Will Obama’s iconic diplomatic achievements be overturned？ Trump swears to abolish the Iranian nuclear deal

CCTV News:On April 30th, Pompeo, the new US Secretary of State, made her diplomatic debut centering on Middle East affairs. On his first visit, Pompeo chose the Middle East countries, and the focus of the topic was Iran. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also disclosed new evidence of Iran’s nuclear support. At the same time, Israel also stationed troops in the Golan Heights to attack Iranian targets in Syria. Seeing that May 12th, the deadline set by Trump to revise the Iranian nuclear deal, is getting closer and closer, these crusades against Iran seem to indicate that a "new" crisis of the Iranian nuclear issue is coming.

On April 30th, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a press conference to show the secret documents obtained by Israeli intelligence agencies from Iran.

　Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:This is 55,000 pages of documents we got, and there are another 55,000 documents and 183 CDs.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:After signing the the Iranian nuclear deal in 2015, Iran stepped up its efforts to hide its secret nuclear program. In 2017, Iran transferred its nuclear weapons program to a secret place in Teheran.

In Netanyahu’s 18-minute illustrated speech, he accused Iran of not giving up its nuclear weapons program as requested by the Iranian nuclear deal, and hiding relevant documents and materials for use when nuclear weapons can be developed. On May 1, White House spokesman Sanders said at a regular press conference that Israel had "passed the air" with the White House and Trump himself before releasing these documents. The two sides discussed this and the US supported Israel’s move.

　The tacit understanding and echo between the United States and Israel is not surprising at all. In fact, Netanyahu’s speech happened just after Pompeo, the new US Secretary of State, visited Israel. Pompeo, the new US Secretary of State, former director of the CIA, and a representative of Washington hawks, was called a "true friend" by Israelis. On April 28th, Pompeo arrived in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, for his first trip to the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, he accused Iran of supporting the Houthi armed forces in Yemen and the Syrian regime. After that, he went to Jerusalem to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Iran remained the core issue.

Pompeo US Secretary of State:As the Prime Minister said, most of today’s talks focus on Iran, and we are very worried about Iran. It poses an escalating threat to Israel and the region. Iran is still seeking the dominant position in the Middle East. The United States and Israel will confront it side by side. We firmly support Israel’s right to self-defense.

The media in various countries have therefore called Pompeo’s trip a "pressure trip" to Iran. In fact, in March this year, when Pompeo was nominated as Secretary of State, the Los Angeles Times once commented: "On the Iranian nuclear issue, Pompeo may be tougher than Trump. This is not good news."

　In 2014, when the the Iranian nuclear deal negotiations entered the final stage, Pompeo had joined the camp that criticized Obama. Pompeo, a soldier, even called for air strikes against Iran, claiming that less than 2,000 bombers could level Iran’s nuclear facilities. After the Iranian nuclear deal was finally reached, Pompeo publicly expressed disappointment, saying: "This agreement is encouraging Iran to continue to develop its nuclear program. This is not foreign policy at all, but submission." After Trump was elected president, Pompeo sent a message on Twitter, hoping that the Iranian nuclear agreement would be abolished and said: "This is an agreement with the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism."

On April 30th, just as Israel produced so-called new evidence and Pompeo put pressure on Iran in the Middle East, US President Trump hinted again that he would tear up the Iranian nuclear deal.

US President Trump:You know this agreement has not been approved by many people. It is a terrible agreement for the United States.

This remark worries American European partners.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel:Our position is that the Iranian nuclear deal needs to be preserved. At the same time, we also notice that there are other issues related to Iran, such as Iran’s political influence in Syria, Iran’s ballistic missile program, and what follow-up measures will be taken after part of the agreement expires. We need to discuss these additional issues, which is a unified position within the EU.

On April 30th, Mogherini, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, who is coordinating Libyan affairs, also refuted the latest Israeli accusation against Iran.

Mogherini, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy:Prime Minister Netanyahu failed to point out the real problem. Whether Iran abides by the Iranian nuclear deal depends on its actions after 2015. The signing of the Iranian nuclear deal is not based on assumptions or trust, but on specific commitments, effective mechanisms and strict supervision by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has issued 10 reports, confirming that Iran has fully fulfilled the agreement.

In an interview with Qatar Al Jazeera, some experts pointed out that most of the "evidence" given by the Israeli side were documents before the signing of the Iranian nuclear deal in 2015, which was suspected of substituting flowers for trees. The reason why these so-called evidences are released at this time is actually to create public pressure for Trump to set a deadline for revising the Iranian nuclear deal.

In addition to waging an offensive in the war of public opinion, Israel’s military strike against Iran is also under way.

According to Syrian state television, on April 30th, on the day of Netanyahu’s press conference, Israeli missiles attacked the Syrian cities of Hama and ‘ The military stronghold of Aleppo. According to the British-based Syrian Human Rights Watch, the missiles mainly attacked the 47th Brigade of the Syrian government forces, killing 26 people, most of whom were Iranian soldiers who helped the Syrian government forces fight.

After the attack, Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei issued a warning.

Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei:Israel knows that if there is a military conflict with us, they will be in trouble. Yes, they will attack us, but they will suffer more fierce counterattacks.

On May 1st, Israeli media published Netanyahu’s speech with the headline "Iran lies", which made some Israelis worry. Meanwhile, in Tehran, the capital of Iran, people are celebrating Shiite religious festivals — — Mahdi Imam’s birthday. According to Shiites, Mahdi is a hidden imam, and he will eventually appear to uphold justice in the world.

According to Farce News Agency, a semi-official Iranian media, Ali akbar, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said that if Trump withdraws from the Iranian nuclear deal, Iran will definitely withdraw and will not accept any amendment to the agreement.

The Iranian nuclear deal was a landmark achievement of former US President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. After Trump took office, he called it "one of the worst agreements" and always claimed to terminate the agreement. Some analysts believe that in the eyes of the current US administration, the chaos in the Middle East seems to have been simplified into the Iranian issue, and further simplified into the Iranian nuclear issue.

Due to opposition from the Republican Party, the Obama administration did not seek approval in Congress after signing the the Iranian nuclear deal. Therefore, the Iranian nuclear deal does not have the legal status of a treaty, and its binding force on the Trump administration is relatively limited.

On January 20, 2017, Trump became the president of the United States. Since then, he has constantly overthrown the political legacy left by his predecessor, including the greatest achievement of Obama’s foreign policy, "the Iranian nuclear deal."

On August 31, 2017, the International Atomic Energy Agency released its latest report, reconfirming that Iran has fulfilled the agreement.

On September 19th, 2017, when Trump attended the UN General Assembly for the first time, he publicly attacked the Iranian nuclear deal.

Trump’s speech made the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the audience happy.

Just 20 days later, on September 19th, 2017, Trump publicly attacked "the Iranian nuclear deal" when he attended the UN General Assembly for the first time. Trump’s speech delighted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but was hit back by Iranian President Rouhani. The British "Financial Times" commented that the United States should not restart its strategy of containing Iran. Without the cooperation of Tehran, any conflict in the Middle East cannot be calmed down.

But containing Iran has obviously been regarded by Trump as the key to the Middle East strategy, and it is supported by its key allies Israel and Saudi Arabia, both of which regard Iran as the biggest security threat.

In January this year, Trump announced the "last time" extension of the exemption period of US sanctions against Iran involving nuclear issues, and set May 12 as the deadline for amending the Iranian nuclear deal, and said that if there was no satisfactory amendment plan by then, the United States would withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal. Similar to the North Korean nuclear issue, the Iranian nuclear issue is also a hot issue that has existed for many years and involved many parties. It is not only related to a country, but also likely to affect the peace and stability of a region. Therefore, the "the Iranian nuclear deal" reached in 2015 is hard-won and needs to be cherished by all parties.

There are still six days before the deadline set by Trump to revise the Iranian nuclear deal on May 12th. How the situation will develop in the coming week deserves close attention. (For more exciting international information, please pay attention to CCTV World Weekly)