Trump's anti JCPOA approach, doomed to failure: Expert

Tehran, Jan 30, IRNA – US President Donald Trump, by punting the fate of the Iran nuclear deal to Congress, has started a process 'that can seemingly only fail,' says a policy fellow at the National Iranian American Council. Trump has vowed to 'vowing to terminate the multilateral accord by mid-May if his unrealistic demands are not met,' Costello worte in an article titled Trump and His Allies Are Ready to Sabotage the Iran Deal published by the National Interest. 'By issuing ultimatums from the White House while outsourcing the work to Congress, Trump has set up a process that can seemingly only fail,' said the assistant policy director at the NIAC. He warned against any attempt by President Trump and his administration to try to alter the content of the Iran nuclear deal, known also as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). 'The United States cannot simply legislate new demands to an international agreement and the current Congress lacks the political wherewithal to approach the matter seriously. The fact that Trump is in the White House should not give a free pass to such recklessness, particularly when it has to do with war and peace and nonproliferation in the Middle East.' 'Serious legislators and policymakers must step up to warn against the path that Trump and his lackeys in Congress are leading us down, while taking what actions are available to try to preserve the accord,' he added. Costello also denounced the bill introduced by US representatives Peter Roskam (R-IL) and Liz Cheney (R-WY), or the so-called the Roskam-Cheney bill, which is aimed at increasing pressure on Iran. 'The [Roskam-Cheney] bill would reimpose the sanctions that the United States committed to lift under the JCPOA in ninety days if Iran does not ratify the IAEA Additional Protocol in that time, a step that is not required by the deal until October 2023.' The assistant policy director at the NIAC also stressed that 'Given Iran’s frequent rhetoric ruling out inspections of military sites, a position that has been bent in practice, it is also far from clear that Trump would certify that Iran has not “denied . . . anywhere, anytime” inspections as mandated by the bill. Costello also cationed the US lawmakers not to go along with Trump and his efforts to sink the July 2015 landmark nuclear deal signed between Iran and the major world powers. 'Rather than go along with Trump’s charade on the JCPOA, responsible legislators need to take the wheel. First, they should block any legislation, like that proposed by Roskam and Cheney, that would force the United States into material breach of the accord. Second, they should point to the president’s lack of good faith and disastrous threats to sabotage the accord as justifications for removing the president’s scheduled decision points on the JCPOA, which have been set into place in both Iran sanctions bills and the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act.' 'There is little reason to budge from these demands. While opponents of the JCPOA will point to Trump’s threats to kill the deal in an attempt to compel passage of legislative sabotage, there is no reason for responsible legislators to hop aboard the sinking ship that is Trump’s Iran policy. After all, they would only end up sharing the blame for the agreement’s collapse with Trump and his congressional cheerleaders,' he wrote. 1378/IRNA