Analysing U.S. President's Iran Speech

Analysing U.S. President's Iran Speech

 Saturday, 21 October 2017 19:25

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NCRI Staff

NCRI - Last Friday, US President Donald Trump made a landmark speech in which he decertified the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The whole speech was about policy change with regards to Iran, and he presented his new all-encompassing strategy after months of discussion.

Following years of failures by US presidents to deal with the Iran threat effectively, Trump has realised that there are much needed improvements to be made to foreign policy.

His speech was firm and had no hints of any concessions and he gave a thorough overview of the situation – starting with the 1979 US Embassy takeover in Iran’s capital and moving on to the bombings against the US and its allies in Beirut, Iraq, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Tanzania.

The terminology he used was very telling because he didn’t refer to the “Islamic Republic” or “Iran”, he employed the term “Iranian regime” and “Iranian dictatorship” and described it as “fanatical” as well as radical and aggressive.

He also never used the term “government”, indicating perhaps that the main goal of US policy is regime change.

In his speech, Trump spoke extensively about the nuclear deal and Iran’s belligerence in the Middle East. It was perhaps his justification for decertifying the nuclear deal after he was put under immense pressure by European allies not to.

But, he remained steadfast in his commitment to address the Iran issues and he issued an ultimatum – either the nuclear deal is fixed or it ends. EU leaders are desperate to keep the deal in place and it is now clear that they need to remove the loopholes that Iran is exploiting if they want it to remain intact, including the “sunset” clauses, access to military sites for inspection by nuclear inspectors and the ballistic missile program.

The Obama administration, which led the nuclear deal negotiations, promised that Iran’s belligerence would be tamed, but this is far from what has happened. It has in fact worsened.

Trump spoke of Iran as a threat to the United States. In other words, an enemy. He said as much during his trip to Saudi Arabia earlier this year.

The Obama administration drew the US away from its Sunni allies and Trump is keen for these mistakes to be corrected during his time in office.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is one of the top authorities in Iran and Trump described it as the Supreme Leader’s “personal terror force and militia”. He announced that the Treasury Department will be issuing further sanctions on the IRGC for supporting terrorism and sanctions will be applied to affiliates, its officials and its agents.

In response to Trump’s speech, the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei said that Iran would remain committed to the deal, indicating just how much it means to Iran.

Recognising the people of Iran as victims of the Iranian regime, Trump said: “Iran is under the control of a fanatical regime that seized power in 1979 and forced a proud people to submit to its extremist rule… In this effort, we stand in total solidarity with the Iranian regime’s longest-suffering victims: its own people.”

His Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, also said a few days later: “… the hope that one day the Iranian people will retake the government of Iran.”