Many other countries made very difficult economic decisions to impose the sanctions on Iran: Wendy Sherman

The Donald Trump administration is unlikely to upend the nuclear deal with Iran, its lead negotiator has said even as the President’s national security team is reviewing the agreement.

Wendy Sherman, the U.S diplomat who led the negotiations with Iran, said the deal was not merely between the U.S and Iran as other countries such as Russia and China were also involved. “Many other countries made very difficult economic decisions to impose the sanctions on Iran. Many of these countries did so only because we were engaged in rigorous diplomacy. Some of those sanctions were beginning to fray, as it is very hard to maintain these difficult sanctions over a long period of time. So if it were to be renegotiated all over, you would be at ground zero again, and would be exceedingly difficult,” she said, during a breakfast roundtable at Albright Stonebridge Group, a Washington consultancy firm where she currently works. She pointed out that Russia, China, European countries and India have invested in Iran, and if the U.S were to consider reimposing sanctions on Iran, these countries may oppose it. “The Iran deal was not made by U.S alone. It was made with Russia, Germany, UK, China , EU and all 15 members of the UNSC,” she said.

‘Cooler heads’

During the campaign, Mr. Trump had promised to scrap the Iran nuclear deal, but now in office, “cooler heads” in the administration have realized the complexities involved, said Prem G. Kumar who served on the National Security Council under President Barack Obama. Mr. Kumar, who was part of the White House team for Middle East, said disruption of the deal through other means could also be counterproductive. “If the administration were to put Iran under.. sanctions for some other reasons — terrorism, support for Hezbollah etc — then Iranians will also at some point withdraw from their part of the obligation, the centrifuges will start spinning again, they will keep the heavy water they are not supposed to. As Trump administration has begun to speaking again, some of the cooler heads have begun to realize it, including Secretary of Defence James Mattis and (NSA) General McMaster…Before they pursue with a more confrontational path, there will be a number of voices in the administration that will advice restraint,” he said. He said the Trump administration was likely to continue with rigorous implementation of the deal while honoring the key provisions of the agreement.

Pressure from Israel, Saudi Arabia

The Trump administration and the U.S Congress are under tremendous pressure from key U.S allies Israel and Saudi Arabia to tighten the screws on Iran. Iran deal was one of the reasons why relations of these two countries with the U.S frayed under the Obama administration. Michael Oren, Israel’s Deputy Minister for Diplomacy, argued in a newspaper piece this week that Iran is a bigger threat than Syria and North Korea combined. “The U.S has signed agreements with three rogue regimes… Two of those regimes — Syria and North Korea — brazenly violated the agreement, provoking game-changing responses from President Trump. But the third agreement — with Iran — is so inherently flawed that Tehran don't event have to break it,” he argued.

The U.S Congress is considering new sanctions against Iran for alleged state sponsorship of terrorism. “Congress has a major role in the relations with Iran. It has teed up legislation for additional sanctions for state sponsorship of terrorism by Iran, but they are probably going to wait on it until the Iranian election which is on May 19,” Ms. Sherma said adding that outcome of the Iranian elections could have a bearing on how the Trump administration tailors its Iran policy