President Trump once again took to Twitter to inflame the tensions between the US & Iran, tweeting
If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2019
It is not really clear what threat Iran issued but it did bring a sabre rattling response with their Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif saying the US president should try showing Iranians some respect.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tells CNN his country won’t negotiate with President Trump unless the US shows “respect” by honoring its commitments under the disputed nuclear deal https://t.co/roqG7g0qbN pic.twitter.com/AJbQYcCMpv
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) May 21, 2019
What’s It All About?
All this stems from the Americas decision to pull out of what was a functioning nuclear agreement set up by President Obama which had kept things relatively stable for a few years. Since then the US has upped its military in the region and although there is no evidence yet is blaming Iran for recent incidents including last weeks attack on four oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, and drone attacks on two oil pumping stations in Saudi Arabia by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Iran has denied that it was behind two incidents.
Overall it’s hard to point the finger of blame firmly at any party here – Iran has been supporting various insurgent groups in the area, and in particular the Houthi rebels in Yemen, however in this conflict neither side has a particularly glowing reputation. On the other hand, the Trump Administration chose to walk away from an internationally agreed nuclear agreement which even they admit Iran was honouring without question, and then put pressure on (blackmail) other nations who supported the agreement with extended sanctions. Given that Iran is the biggest threat to Americas biggest allies in the region Saudi Arabia and Israel (neither of whom are bastions of human rights) this could be construed as more about extending US influence than anything else.
Hopefully, common sense will prevail as the last thing the world needs right now is conflict in the middle east adding to the economic damage that the US trade war with China is unleashing.
