Boris: Why ‘fixer’ Trump should get a Peace Prize
DONALD Trump could win the Nobel Peace Prize if he can “fix” North Korea and Iran, Boris Johnson claimed yesterday.
The Foreign Secretary made his prediction on the US president’s favourite TV programme, Fox & Friends, while in America to convince Mr Trump not to dump the controversial Iran nuclear deal.
The President said he would be announcing his decision on the deal later today.
Comparing Mr Trump favourably to his predecessor Barack Obama, who was awarded the prize at the start of his presidency before he had achieved anything in office, Mr Johnson said “of course” he could win the same award.
Tougher
He said: “If Trump can fix North Korea and the Iran nuclear deal, then I don’t see why he’s any less of a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize than Obama.”
Mr Johnson stressed that the UK shared Mr Trump’s concerns over the Iran nuclear deal, which has seen sanctions ended in exchange for guarantees that the Middle East state known as a sponsor of international terrorism stops developing nuclear weapons.
Mr Johnson said: “The President is right to see flaws in [the deal] and he set a very reasonable challenge to the world.
“He said, ‘Look, Iran is behaving badly, has a tendency to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles. We’ve got to stop that. We’ve got to push back on what Iran is doing in the region. We’ve got to be tougher’.” But he warned there was “no plan B” and if Mr Trump scrapped the deal, he had to ask: “What next?”
Mr Johnson said: “Are we seriously saying that we will bomb those facilities, is that really a realistic possibility?”
The Foreign Secretary, who followed TV medic Dr Oz on the show, urged Mr Trump not to “throw the baby out with the bathwater” and work with him to improve the deal.
Among the many elements that needed fixing, Mr Johnson conceded, was the “sunset clause” that means “after 2025, the current deal allows Iran to go forward fast with enrichment programmes which could lead to a nuclear weapon, and no sanctions go back on”.
He added: “Let me just remind you, if they do get a nuclear weapon you’re going to get an arms race in the Middle East. You’re going to have the Saudis wanting one, the Egyptians, the Emiratis.
“It’s already a very, very dangerous state, we don’t want to go down that road. There doesn’t seem to me at the moment to be a viable military solution.” British, French and German diplomats have been working with the US behind the scenes to save the agreement.
Mr Johnson said the current deal restricted Iran’s nuclear programme and “now that these handcuffs are in place, I see no possible advantage in casting them aside”.
Sir Kim Darroch, the UK’s ambassador to the United States, said the Iran agreement was “a good deal” but efforts were under way to “find some language, produce some action that meets the President’s concerns”.