Sputnik News- Washington�s commitment to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal has been thrown into question again, after the imposition of new US sanctions on Iranian companies, and an op-ed by Mike Pence. Sputnik spoke with Middle East political analyst Catherine Shakdam about how likely it is that Trump might abandon the deal, and what the ramifications could look like.




Sputnik:�So, is the administration likely to�exit the deal, or is this just�bluster�on�the part of�the president, and if so, what could the consequences for�the international community look like?

Catherine Shakdam:�I think it is very likely, if you look at�the language coming out�of Washington lately and the constant criticism that President Trump has levelled against�Iran, its system of�governance and the way that everything is being conducted there � including its foreign policies � I think that it is extremely likely that he will abandon the deal.

The consequences I think would be dire in�the sense that we tend to�forget that this nuclear deal with�Iran�is not Washington-made, it involves other parties and other Western capitals, which include the UK, Paris, and of�course Russia and China. So, he cannot just dismiss an entire international agreement on�the basis that Washington has an issue with�it or in�particular Mr Trump. So I think it�s going to�be very difficult for�the US to�position itself within�the international community and still continue to�renege on�the deals that have been brokered with�other parties and then dismissing them off�the bat without�a care in�the world. I think it could isolate Washington, because legally it�s going to�put its partners in�a difficult position when it comes to�their relationship with�Iran. But again, I don�t think Mr Trump cares very much.

Sputnik:�Over the past�week we have of�course seen unrest in�Iran�in�the form of�pretty widespread protests. Some have said that it�s likely President Trump will seize upon�this as�an opportunity to�rally against�the Iranian government and pull out�of the nuclear deal, is that at�all likely?

Catherine Shakdam:�Absolutely. First of�all I think there�s been a very hypocritical way of�looking at�these�protests�in�Iran, and I�m not saying that everything is rosy in�the Islamic Republic, but�that being said you cannot just suddenly use certain protests and the violence we�ve seen by�certain demonstrators, basically breaking the law in�Iran, and use this as�a way to�somehow level accusations of�human rights abuses. Every country has a certain set of�laws and demonstrations need to�be done within�in a certain way. We saw, for�example, in�the US with�the Occupy Wall Street movement where crackdown was actually quite severe and some people argued there were human rights violations there. So, I think it�s very hypocritical for�Donald Trump to�level any formal accusation against�Iran and to�use this as�a political scoring point board to�try to�justify his position toward�Iran.

The views and opinions expressed by�Catherine Shakdam are those of�the analyst and do not necessarily reflect those of�Sputnik.