Dealing with Iran

Published in Folha de São Paulo
(Brazil) on 9 August 2018
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Domitila Olivé. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
The president of Iran would not appear in any photograph with Trump to bargain for concessions.

It is likely that no other public administration field reflects Donald Trump’s style more clearly than his foreign policy. The search for fast, concrete results with little time for negotiation has been America's standard of diplomacy. The current attempt to impose such a strategy on Iran may make explicit its limits.

The American president appears to be obstinately determined to dismantle Iran’s nuclear weapons program, because he does not believe it is used solely for peaceful purposes.

In this effort, in May, Trump abandoned the deal with Tehran signed by Barack Obama and other world leaders. On Tuesday, Aug. 7, the White House re-established economic sanctions, such as barring the Iranian government from purchasing or acquiring U.S. dollars.

One week earlier, however, Trump claimed he was willing to meet President Hasan Rouhani with “no preconditions.” He talked about “believing in meetings,” referring to his meetings with leaders like Kim Jong Un of North Korea and Vladimir Putin of Russia.

To the Republican president, straightforward conversations with his counterparts can have immediate impact, dispensing with prior intermediation from the diplomatic corps.

In Kim and Putin’s case, both leaders were interested in appearing by Trump's side, since the event provided them with an image of being above isolation, an image they are subject to, although on different levels.

However, the circumstances regarding Iran are very different. Although the financial sanctions will further damage the local economy, Rouhani would not appear in a photograph with Trump to bargain for concessions.

It is worth remembering that the other leaders that took part in the nuclear deal have promised to maintain it, as well as sustain business relations with the theocratic government — China, for example, is Iran's top oil buyer — which is a setback in America’s plan to pressure Iran.

Add that to the historical suspicion Tehran has of the United States, which goes back to the CIA-sponsored takedown of nationalist Mohamad Mossadegh in 1953. The episode helped to intensify anti-Western sentiment that would culminate in the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Containing Iran will demand that Trump show a level of patience and power to articulate that, at least so far, he has not displayed.


Presidente iraniano não aceitaria dividir uma fotografia com Trump para barganhar

É provável que nenhum campo da administração pública reflita com mais clareza o estilo de Donald Trump como a política externa. A busca por resultados palpáveis a curto prazo, sem se alongar em negociações, tem sido a marca da diplomacia dos EUA. A atual tentativa de impor tal estratégia ao Irã pode explicitar seus limites.

O presidente americano se mostra obstinado em desmantelar o programa nuclear do país persa, por não confiar em que este só o utilize para fins pacíficos.

Nessa empreitada, abandonou, em maio, o acordo assinado com Teerã pelo antecessor, Barack Obama, e por governantes das demais potências. Na terça (7), a Casa Branca restabeleceu sanções econômicas como vetar a aquisição de dólares pelo governo iraniano.

Uma semana antes, entretanto, Trump afirmou estar disposto a se encontrar, “sem precondições”, com o presidente Hasan Rowhani. Disse “acreditar em reuniões”, aludindo às conversas com o ditador norte-coreano, Kim Jong-un, e com o líder russo, Vladimir Putin.

Para o mandatário republicano, diálogos diretos com seus congêneres podem surtir efeito imediato, dispensando-se intermediações prévias do corpo diplomático.

Nos casos de Kim e Putin, ambos tinham interesse em aparecer a seu lado, dado que isso lhes lustrou a imagem em meio ao isolamento —embora em escalas diferentes— a que estão submetidos.

São bem distintas, porém, as circunstâncias relacionadas ao Irã. Por mais que as punições financeiras tendam a piorar o quadro da já combalida economia local, Rowhani não aceitaria dividir uma fotografia com Trump para barganhar alguma concessão.

Convém lembrar que os outros signatários do pacto atômico prometem mantê-lo, além de continuar a fazer negócios com o regime teocrático —a China, por exemplo, é o maior comprador de petróleo iraniano—, o que enfraquece os instrumentos americanos de pressão.

Some-se a isso a histórica desconfiança de Teerã com os EUA, que remonta à derrubada, patrocinada pela CIA, do nacionalista Mohamad Mossadegh, em 1953. O episódio ajudou a insuflar um sentimento anti-Ocidente que culminaria na Revolução Islâmica de 1979.

Conter o Irã demandará de Trump um nível de paciência e poder de articulação, ao menos por ora, ainda não manifestado.
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

Hot this week

Germany: The President and His Private Army

Israel: From the Cities of America to John Bolton: Trump’s Vendetta Campaign against Opponents Reaches New Heights

Canada: Minnesota School Shooting Is Just More Proof That America Is Crazed

Peru: Blockade ‘For Now’

Ireland: We Must Stand Up to Trump on Climate. The Alternative Is Too Bleak To Contemplate

Topics

Peru: Blockade ‘For Now’

Japan: US President and the Federal Reserve Board: Harmonious Dialogue To Support the Dollar

Austria: The EU Must Recognize That a Tariff Deal with Trump Is Hardly Worth Anything

Mexico: The Network of Intellectuals and Artists in Defense of Venezuela and President Nicholás Maduro

Hong Kong: Cordial Cross-Strait Relations Will Spare Taiwan Trump’s Demands, Says Paul Kuoboug Chang

Germany: The Tariffs Have Side Effects — For the US Too*

Ireland: We Must Stand Up to Trump on Climate. The Alternative Is Too Bleak To Contemplate

Canada: Carney Takes Us Backward with Americans on Trade

Related Articles

Peru: Blockade ‘For Now’

Japan: US President and the Federal Reserve Board: Harmonious Dialogue To Support the Dollar

Germany: The Tariffs Have Side Effects — For the US Too*

Ireland: We Must Stand Up to Trump on Climate. The Alternative Is Too Bleak To Contemplate

Canada: Carney Takes Us Backward with Americans on Trade