Rejection of the Iran deal would hurt U.S.

hear about Middle Eastern activity that has nothing to do with American national security and is typically just an extension of historical squabbling between Iran and its biggest regional foes, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Meanwhile, we rarely hear about the role that Iran’s opponents have played (in tandem with the U.S.) in sponsoring the world’s biggest global-terrorism brand, the Islamic State. Nor do we hear much about how Iran has worked with Russia to eradicate this global menace.

Actions count more than mere words, and Russia has pulled the rug out from under the U.S. in the Middle East, emerging as the primary powerbroker in the region by making an earnest attempt to eradicate Islamic State terrorism. Economic spoils have followed. Russian President Vladimir Putin has worked hard to bring Saudi Arabia into Moscow’s sphere of influence, and in the wake of King Salman’s first visit to Russia, the Saudis have struck a deal to purchase $2 billion worth of Russian S-400 missile systems.

Here in France, the rhetoric coming from the Trump administration is producing frustration. Two years after the Iran deal, American and European multinationals have been making billions of dollars in sales deals to the Iranian market, knowing that the U.S. could soon reinstate sanctions. Big-ticket items such as commercial jets can’t be made and shipped overnight, so orders proceed under constant threat of a deal-killing. There’s exasperation here over the fact that globalization has integrated American parts into the French and European supply chains to such an extent that a single component can subject a European multinational to U.S. sanctions. This mounting frustration threatens to isolate the U.S. when such cooperative ventures are structured in the future. There’s nothing preventing Europe from turning East rather than West.

With billions of dollars’ worth of commerce on the line — not to mention the opportunity to build lasting peace through mutually beneficial economic cooperation — Trump needs a better reason to derail the Iran agreement than simply to parrot the neoconservative swamp monsters and their agenda-peddling lobbyists.