WITH regard to Iran, the major aim of the Trump administration is to ramp up confrontation with the Islamic Republic by cutting off its revenue streams, and isolating it internationally.

However, the risk this questionable policy runs is that brinksmanship can one day give way to actual confrontation between Washington and Tehran.

Perhaps that is the goal of the hawks in the US capital.

However, Iran must act with caution and resist the temptation to answer in kind. But considering the kind of pressure Tehran is facing after the US tightened the screws on the Iranian economy by threatening to penalise anyone who does business with it, this is easier said than done.

It is in this context that Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said that his country may quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; Iran has also said it may pull out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal unless European powers work out a mechanism to ensure economic activities with Iran remain unaffected by US sanctions.

Iran would be advised to avoid falling into a trap by withdrawing from its commitments.

The IAEA has said that Tehran has been honouring its end of the JCPOA, as the nuclear deal is known, so Tehran should not give its detractors a chance to exploit actions it may take in the heat of the moment.

True, the pressure on its economy is great: the US decision not to renew waivers granted to those states that buy Tehran’s oil are designed to choke Iran’s economy completely.

As Iran sees it, this is a declaration of war, hence its alarming pronouncements.

To prevent this situation from worsening, saner voices in Washington must prevail so that the warmongers that advise President Trump do not succeed in their aims of aggravating tensions.

Further, the European states must continue to do business with Iran and allow it some economic breathing space. If Iran’s economy is made to crumble, hardliners within the establishment will call for greater confrontation with America.

Of course, some of Tehran’s arch-enemies in the region — Israel and the Gulf Arabs — will be rooting for war with Iran. But that is not in the interest of the Iranian people, or the greater population of the Middle East.

That is why the West, including America, must work for a modus vivendi with Iran, not a new war.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2019