PRESIDENT Donald Trump has decertified the Iran nuclear deal although Iran has not committed any violation as vouched by the other signatories to the deal.

The other signatories, China, Russia, Germany, France, the UK and the UN nuclear watch dog, IAEA, have the mandate under the agreement to inspect Iran’s nuclear sites. If the decertification is approved by the US Congress within the next 60 days, the deal stands revoked.

If the Iran deal is scrapped which is very likely, the US, in particular, and the world, at large, will have to deal with two nuclear crises, the other being North Korea. By the same token, global insecurity will increase.

The revocation of an international agreement would raise questions about US credibility. The prospect of the US reaching any nuclear deal with North Korea will further diminish along with America’s fast disappearing trustworthiness. More importantly, the overall US credibility will nosedive globally.

On the other hand, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has declared that Iran will continue to abide by the agreement, notwithstanding the US revocation. The other signatories to the agreement, have also expressed their concurrence with Tehran. This puts Iran on a higher moral ground.

Saghir Khan

Karachi

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2017