US may have lost leverage in Iran after ditching nuclear deal

World
Europe

00:53

By CGTN’s The Point

With the withdrawal of the US from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the US faces the possibility of losing its leverage over Tehran, argue some experts.

Speaking on CGTN’s The Point, Raymond Tanter, a professor emeritus at the University of Michigan and a former senior staff member at the National Security Council of Reagan-Bush administration, said the 2015 nuclear agreement was not a “good” deal, saying that the US “frontloaded the sanctions relief” to Iran, which contributed to the US losing its leverage over Iran.

“The leverage the US can use now is to support the Iranian opposition groups like the National Council of Resistance of Iran,” so that Washington can mount pressure on Tehran and seek renegotiation for a better one, Tanter said.

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Instead, Meir Javedanfar, a Middle East analyst, said Trump’s “wrong decision” undermines America’s leverage in Iran and it would be much more difficult for the US to strike a new deal, adding Iran has been following the deal.

Upon the sanctions relief, Iran has invested money in mothballing the heavy water reactor in the city of Arak, limiting the number of centrifuges and shipping out 98 percent of its low-enriched uranium stockpile, Javedanfar said.

“Iran is the most inspected nuclear country,” Javedanfar noted. “It is an interesting fact that politicians don’t tell the public.”

In comparison, Tanter believed that Washington should continue its "credible threats” against Pyongyang regarding proliferation, given that the latter has no domestic protest groups.

He hailed Trump’s “threats,” saying Kim Jung Un, the leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), is “more likely to abide by any agreement with the US” as Kim is seeking alignment with Trump by sending intelligence agents and scholars to Washington.

But Javedanfar argued that there are “stark differences” between Iran and DPRK.

“What happened to Iran could also be a warning light to the DPRK for any eventual agreements,” he said.

On Wednesday, CNN cited a source as saying that the Trump-Kim summit will be held in Singapore in June, while Trump said he will announce the date and venue of the meeting within three days.

The Point with Liu Xin is a 30-minute current affairs program on CGTN. It airs weekdays at 9:30 p.m. BJT (1330GMT), with rebroadcasts at 5:30 a.m. (2130GMT) and 10:30 a.m. (0230GMT).