{"id":1244,"date":"2019-07-23T07:31:06","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T06:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/codir.net\/?p=1244"},"modified":"2019-07-23T07:31:06","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T06:31:06","slug":"by-punishing-iran-trump-risks-a-full-scale-war-between-our-two-countries-mohammad-khatami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/codir.net\/?p=1244","title":{"rendered":"By punishing Iran, Trump risks a full-scale war between our two countries – Mohammad Khatami"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US president should resist the pressure from his advisers and de-escalate the explosive tensions in the Persian Gulf<\/p>\n

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The British-flagged tanker, Stena Impero, seized in the strait of Hormuz: \u2018By exiting the JCPOA, the Trump administration has moved against the very principles of dialogue, engagement and coalition-building.\u2019 Photograph: Hasan Shirvani\/EPA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/header>\n
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T<\/span><\/span>wenty-one years ago, on my recommendation, the UN general assembly named 2001 the year of \u201cdialogue among civilisations<\/a>\u201d, and signalled its commitment to peace and its rejection of war and violence. The Iranian people, despite their own historic grievances and troubled history, opened a hopeful new chapter of engagement and dialogue with the Great Powers (US, UK and Russia). These hopes, however, were dashed by the terrorist atrocities of 11 September, 2001 and their tragic aftermath in devastating wars in west Asia. The catastrophic wars of Iraq and Afghanistan and other interventions in the region exacerbated already extant problems, and paved the way for the growth of international terrorism, civil wars in\u00a0Syria<\/a>\u00a0and Iraq, and the depredations and war crimes still unfolding in\u00a0Yemen<\/a>. These conflicts have made the region unsafe and have impinged on security around the world.<\/p>\n

In the same period, the development of Iran\u2019s peaceful\u00a0nuclear programme<\/a>\u00a0became a test of the dialogue on peace. In order to build trust with the international community my administration sought dialogue, and after years of difficult and tumultuous negotiations, President Rouhani\u2019s government succeeded in concluding the\u00a0Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action<\/a>\u00a0(JCPOA) \u2013 known as the Iran nuclear deal \u2013 with six other world powers.<\/p>\n

Iran has repeatedly declared that it is not seeking to build a nuclear weapon. In addition to observing its obligations under the non-proliferation treaty (NPT), as a gesture of goodwill Iran accepted the JCPOA\u2019s measures to ensure transparent verifiability of the peaceful nature of its civilian nuclear programme. The successful conclusion of the JCPOA was a major achievement which showed that reciprocity and mutual trust between Iran and the E3+3 were not only possible, but desirable. Furthermore, it acted as an important basis on which to build, containing within it the prospect of more fruitful and positive relations between our respective nations in the future. Sadly,\u00a0Iran<\/a>\u00a0was the only country to abide by all the provisions of the JCPOA, while the other signatories have either breached or shirked their responsibilities under its terms.<\/p>\n

While Iran was playing a decisive role in defeating the Islamic State\u2019s reign of terror, the Trump administration decided to initiate a new round of hostilities against my country by illegally\u00a0withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal<\/a>, violating\u00a0UN security council resolution 2231<\/a>\u00a0that the US had itself jointly sponsored, and waging a campaign of economic sanctions against the Iranian people. President Trump is thus punishing Iran and indeed the world community not for violating the JCPOA, but for complying with this UN-sanctioned international legal agreement. By exiting the JCPOA, the Trump administration has moved against the very principles of dialogue, engagement and coalition-building. It has spurned the cause of peace. Unrelenting sanctions and what is effectively a blockade on Iran impose collective punishment on a nation that has done absolutely nothing wrong. The present US administration is ratcheting up tensions in the Persian Gulf, making a conflagration or even\u00a0a full-scale war<\/a>\u00a0between our two countries increasingly likely.<\/p>\n

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