Showing that French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump are on the same page when it comes to Iran, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian met with Iranian officials to express reservations about ballistic missile activity. Trump has warned Tehran that he’s inclined to back out the July 14, 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPA] negotiated with the P5+!, including the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany. In exchange for Iran suspending its uranium enrichment program, the U.S. agreed to released over $150 billion in frozen Iranian assets, in addition to supply $1.6 billion in cash. Negotiated under former President Barack Obama by former Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the agreement suspended Iran’s weapons grade enrichment program for 10 years.
Trump’s been a big critic of Obama’s so-called Iranian Nuke Deal, agreeing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it assures Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon. When North Korea opened up an embassy in Tehran Aug. 6, 2017, it became obvious that both countries were collaborating on nukes and ballistic missiles. Trump’s been at loggerheads with North Korean President Kim Jong-un over his nukes and ballistic missile program. Trump’s warned Kim that if he doesn’t disarm his nukes and ballistic missiles, he faces the full force of the U.S. military. Only yesterday Trump warned against false optimism that a diplomatic breakthrough was imminent. Trump’s been given no indication that Kim’s willing to give up his work on an operational nuclear-tipped Intercontinental Ballistic Missile—something his Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said Sept. 24, 2017 would hit the U.S.
Unlike other European leaders, Macron gets the severity of North Korea’s nuclear threats against the U.S. He understands that if Tehran doesn’t make some concessions its ballistic missile development or meddling in North Africa and the Middle East, Trump will back out of the JCPA AKA Iranian Nuke Deal. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that any changes to the JCPA would result in Iran firing up its uranium centrifuges. “The United States and other countries that have turned out region into a gunpowder depot by selling arms must top such actions,” Zarif told the semi-official ISNA news agency. With Iran building bases in Syria, supplying rockets to Houthi rebels in Yemen and collaborating with the DPRK on nukes and ballistic missiles, Zarif’s the last one to point fingers at other countries. Iran insists its ballistic missiles are purely for defensive purposes.
Le Drian’s one-day trip to Tehran was designed to express France’s concerns regarding Iran’s missile development and military involvement in the region. “The country’s defense capabilities will continue non-stop and foreigners do not have the right to enter this field,” said Iran’s armed forces spokesman Gen. Masoud Jazayeri. With a greeting like that, Le Drian doesn’t have much hope of getting through to Iranian officials that they’ve dangerously close to canceling the Iranian Nuke Deal. When Iran threatens to fire up its centrifuges, it reinforces the notion that it’s still seeking a nuclear weapon. With all the denials from Tehran, it’s no wonder Le Drian hopes to impress on Rouhani that more defiance won’t win Iran more backing in the U.N. or EU. Like North Korea, Iran talks of nukes and missiles as a matter of defense, not something he’d use for offensive purposes.
When Trump announced Oct. 13, 2017 that he was not re-certifying the Iranian Nuke Deal, he left it to Congress to re-certify the agreement. “I have a message for you today, it’s a very simple one. We must stop Iran, we will stop Iran,” Netanyahu told the Washington-based American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee [AIPAC], the major U.S.-Israeli lobbying group. “Radical tyranny in Tehran,” Netanyahu told delegates warning of Iran’s meddling in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. Whether or not Trump can take on Netanyahu’s beef with Iran is anyone’s guess. With North Korean bubbling beneath the surface, the U.S. can’t afford to spread itself too thin when the DPRK plans to hit the U.S. homeland with a nuclear-tipped ICBM. So far, Tehran hasn’t threatened the U.S. with nuclear war, something North Korea does often. Trump must pick his battles wisely, especially over nukes and ballistic missiles.
Macron’s support for Trump’s concerns about Tehran comes at a time of considerable peril with Kim Jong-un feverishly pursuing a nuclear-ready ICBM. Trump’s put the world on notice that he won’t let Kim get his ICBM without the U.S. doing everything possible to stop him. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have tried to get Kim to disarm, all to no avail. Trump said Feb. 23 the U.S. is ready for Phase 2 if sanctions don’t get Kim to the disarmament table. Calling Le Drian “Trump’s Parisian servant,” Fars semi-official news agency, called the French Foreign Minister an “impudent guest.” In Iran to commemorate the Louvre’s first major exhibition in Tehran, the Iranian press has been inhospitable. Given what’s happening in Tehran and Pyongyang, it makes former President George W. Bush’s Jan. 29, 2002 “Axis of Evil” speech look prophetic.
