Iran’s deal is still up in the air; U.S expert
Political Science Professor of Colombia University Robert Y. Shapiro believes that the U.S. president has shown that he is not supportive of diplomacy and working with allies the way the Obama administration did.
Speaking to ILNA news agency, the former chair of the Department of Political Science at Columbia University added that this has been a big difference between Democratic and Republican foreign policy. Trump pulling out of agreements has been a distinguishing feature of his policy as has been his hard line on tariffs and trade policy.
He pointed to the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) and said that this deal is still up in the air, waiting to see what Iran does next.
Asked about whether Trump has ordered the assassination of an Iranian commander to overshadow his interpellation, he said “Trump did this to act decisively against Iran in a way the US has not done. And he succeeded at that but has caused a backlash in Iraq.”
“Only with the report of US casualties last week in terms of brain trauma did it appear to cause harm beyond physical destruction of the US facilities. But the assassination of Iranian commander far overshadowed this.”
Answering to question that Trump kept his promise to withdraw US troops from the Middle East or not, the U.S Professor said “He has shown that he has tried but not in a way that shows any well thought out strategy.”
“The U.S. became a disruptive force with the 2003 invasion of Iraq -- that sums it up,” he added.
END