Donald Trump is foolish to underestimate Iran

If the US president scuppers the nuclear deal, Iran, a proud, resource-rich nation, which also has a large uranium stockpile, will not capitulate, says Seyed Hossein Mousavian.

WITH the Iran nuclear deal at stake, US president Donald Trump has until Sunday to tell Congress if he believes Tehran is complying with the seven-nation agreement. Many expect that the US president will decertify Iranian compliance with the deal, returning US-Iran relations to overt hostility.

Not all in the administration agree with Trump’s harder-line approach on Iran. Defence secretary James Mattis has publicly stated that Trump “should consider staying” in the deal, while secretary of state Rex Tillerson has reportedly argued against decertification. Speaking after his first meeting with Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif, Tillerson also seemed to indicate a willingness to take a longer-term view when he told a media conference that the Washington-Tehran relationship had “never had a stable, happy moment in it”.