Sputnik: So France is upping the pressure on the EU to consider new sanctions on Iran over its involvement in the Syrian war and its ballistic missile programme. Are these moves driven by legitimate European security concerns, or is this predominantly about appeasing Donald Trump’s threat to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal unless, in part, new sanctions are imposed?
MM: I think it’s largely to do with appeasing Trump so that they will remain in his good books. I think this is very harmful for international relations. I think its sending a message to the international community that no deal should be done with the US or the Europeans on any deal because they will ultimately demand further concessions after any deal has been made. I think the other issue is that the French government, along with the British and the Canadian and the Americans, sell huge amounts of weapons to Saudi Arabia to massacre people in Yemen. The Americans, the French, the Canadians and the British are making huge amounts of money and it’s in their interest to continue to remain in the good books of the despotic kings in Saudi Arabia and in the UAE so that they can make more money.
Sputnik: If Europe indeed adds more sanctions to appease Donald Trump’s threats, how likely is it that Iran will pull out of the JCPOA?
MM: Well if the United States pulls out of the deal then it’s a dead deal; it becomes meaningless for Iran and that would mean that the Iranians have to pull out. Again, I think this sends the message to the international community that the United States cannot be trusted at any negotiating table. Any country, even countries like North Korea, with be foolish to do any serious negotiations with the United States under such circumstances.
Sputnik: Of course, soon we will see Mike Pompeo take over at the State Department, a man known to be a vociferous opponent of the 2015 nuclear deal. That means we’ll have both the US’ chief diplomat and its president opposed to the deal. If the US pulls out of the JCPOA, what do you see coming after in terms of US policy vis a vis Iran?
MM: Well I think that the United States on the whole is becoming more and more aggressive to not only Iran, but to Russia and China; across the board to all countries that have differences with the US. This is not necessarily a bad thing: this is isolating the United States and it is pushing countries closer together, countries like Iran, Russia and China, which are all being threatened by the Americans through different means. Of course with the Chinese we now have the tariffs or the sanctions. These are incentives I think for these countries to move closer together and I think other countries too are being pushed away from the US through these extremist policies that are coming out of the United States.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.