US measures will curb backing for extremists
Nuclear deal seemed to have emboldened Tehran and enabled suppression of people
When US President Donald Trump withdrew in May from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, many Iranians took to social media using the hashtag #ThankYouTrump. The deal was supposed to foster stability and peace in the region by containing Iran’s nuclear programme. By removing sanctions, the Iranian people were supposed to benefit from more money in the economy and a more open Iran. Instead, the opposite happened.
Tehran has incited instability throughout the region by supporting extremist organisations in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. In January, thousands took to the streets of the cities Khomeini Shahr and Mashhad in anger at the rising cost of living and a sluggish economy. Their ire was targeted at a regime that
has spent billions on its proxies abroad, ignoring the needs of its people. Tehran has also fomented unrest on the Arabian Peninsula. The JCPOA seemed to have emboldened the regime and enabled the suppression of the Iranian people. By giving Tehran access to billions of dollars of sanctions relief, the JCPOA helped to fund Iranian rockets, landmines, guns and heavy weaponry in Syria and Yemen. It became a life-saving deal for Bashar Al Assad rather than a plan through which to curb his influence. Al Houthi militia, whose war crimes include using civilians as human shields, the recruitment of child soldiers and the indiscriminate laying of landmines, name Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as their supreme leader.
Since Trump withdrew from the deal, Al Houthis have been pushed back. Sanctions may finally force them to the negotiating table. They played a key role in bringing Iran to the table in 2015. This time, the focus must be on curbing Iran’s support for extremists. It’s what the Iranian people want.
By giving Tehran sanctions relief, the JCPOA helped to fund Iranian rockets, landmines, guns and heavy weaponry in Syria and Yemen.