Critics Fear Trump’s Attacks on Iran Could Backfire
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Version 0 of 1. UNITED NATIONS — President Trump’s bombastic attacks on Iran over the nuclear deal may have created an unanticipated outcome: sympathy for the Iranian government. Disarmament advocates and other critics of Mr. Trump’s approach to Iran say that while his threats to renounce the accord may sit well with conservative allies, they also risk damaging the credibility of the United States. Some say the contrast between Mr. Trump’s belligerent-sounding General Assembly speech on Tuesday, and the more measured address by President Hassan Rouhani of Iran on Wednesday, had helped give Iran an unexpected edge: the image of reasonableness in the face of an adversary’s angry ranting. “The bombast makes Trump look like a predator, circling,” said Cliff Kupchan, chairman of the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy in Washington who has followed the ups and downs of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. “That creates sympathy for Iran among the international community,” Mr. Kupchan said. “It’s especially dangerous because Iran is very skilled at playing the victim, aggrieved by foreign powers for decades.” Mr. Trump, he said, “is playing against a pro here in dealing with it.” The International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear-monitoring arm of the United Nations, has repeatedly found Iran in compliance with the agreement, which eased economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for its verifiable guarantees of peaceful nuclear work. While Mr. Trump and his United Nations ambassador, Nikki R. Haley, have assailed Iran, they have presented nothing concrete that suggests the Iranians are violating the agreement. Rather, they have objected to provisions that will expire after a number of years, called for more intrusive inspections even if there is no evidence of wrongdoing and say restrictions on Iran’s missiles should be part of the agreement. For Mr. Rouhani, who described Mr. Trump’s depiction of Iran as an insult that warranted an apology, there was ample opportunity to present his side of the story on Wednesday, in his speech and at a news conference. It was in many ways the diametrical opposite of Mr. Trump’s version. Iran is not meddling in the Middle East, he said, it is helping neighbors who ask for help. Iran is not sponsoring terrorism, he said, but fighting it. Iran’s missiles are not meant to attack but to defend. And Mr. Rouhani said the nuclear agreement, which was negotiated not just with the United States but five other major powers — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — was a model of international diplomacy that should be emulated, not abandoned. “I declare before you that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not be the first country to violate the agreement; but it will respond decisively and resolutely to its violation by any party,” he said. In an indirect but pointed swipe at Mr. Trump’s administration, he also said “it will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by ‘rogue’ newcomers to the world of politics: the world will have lost a great opportunity.” Mr. Trump’s portrayal of Iran as a fomenter of Middle East conflict, Mr. Rouhani said, was misplaced, given America’s 2003 invasion of Iraq and other military operations in the area. “The United States government should explain to its own people why, after spending billions of dollars of the assets of the people of America and of our region, instead of contributing to peace and stability, it has only brought war, misery, poverty and the rise of terrorism and extremism to the region,” he said. Later at an hourlong news conference, Mr. Rouhani held open the possibility of resuming uranium enrichment that is restricted under the nuclear agreement, should it unravel. But he also reiterated Iran’s contention that it does not want, and will never seek, nuclear weapons. While the Iranian president’s version of all the facts may be in dispute, his tone was moderate, especially compared with the provocative performances by his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom he succeeded four years ago. Mr. Rouhani’s tone also may have given him an advantage when compared with that of Mr. Trump, who was met largely with stony silence in the General Assembly hall with his criticism of Iran on Wednesday, categorizing it as a rogue state akin to North Korea. Some disarmament experts said Mr. Rouhani was perfectly within his rights to insist that the nuclear agreement could not be renegotiated, even if it had flaws. That could further complicate Mr. Trump’s challenges with Iran. “A deal is a deal, and Iran has met its nuclear commitments,” said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, a Washington disarmament advocacy group. “And Donald Trump is threatening to tear it apart.” He said Mr. Trump’s approach, “if it was intended to rally support against Iran, is clearly backfiring.” |