British Prime Minister Boris Johnson threw his support behind President Donald Trump’s efforts to negotiate a new Iranian nuclear agreement on Tuesday. In an interview with the BBC, Johnson said that he was on board with scrapping the Obama-led JCPOA agreement and replacing it with a deal that the U.S. president could hammer out with his Iranian counterparts.
“If we’re going to get rid of it, let’s replace it,” he said. “And let’s replace it with the Trump deal. President Trump is a great dealmaker, by his own account and others. Let’s work together to replace the JCPOA and get the Trump deal instead. We’ve got to stop the Iranians acquiring a nuclear weapon. That’s what the Joint Comprehensive Agreement does.”
It’s hard to overstate how badly Iran has shot itself in the foot over the last two weeks. The day before yesterday, the U.S.’s other partners in the international nuclear agreement were committed to standing with Tehran, even after President Trump withdrew from the deal. Iran was given the ultimate out, even though our European partners were forced to comply with certain aspects of U.S.-led sanctions against the Iranian regime.
Instead of taking advantage of that lifeline and using it to come to the table with Trump, Iran continually thumbed their noses at Trump. Finally, they crossed the line with their authorized attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. Even THAT they may have been able to come back from if they hadn’t decided to throw a conniption fit over the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Instead of recognizing that they’d been checkmated, they indulged themselves in a temper tantrum that resulted in the downing of a Ukrainian commercial jet.
And then they told the international community that they no longer intended to abide by the terms of the nuclear agreement.
With their stated intention of ramping up the enrichment of uranium to levels beyond those prescribed by the agreement, the Iranian regime has effectively burned its bridges with the international community. What’s more, they’ve done so at a time they can least afford it. There are protesters in the streets of Iran, demanding that the Ayatollah resign, Ukraine and the West are condemning the regime for shooting down the jet, and Trump has made it clear that he’s reached the end of his patience. This is the moment that Iran should be doing everything possible to repair relationships; instead, they’re going in the opposite direction.
Turn back now, Islamists. You are squandering your last chance.
