Trump right to pressure Iran

There are risks in the new strategy announcement Donald Trump has made on the Iran nuclear deal. But in refusing to “certify” that Tehran is complying with its terms and instead laying down “red lines” aimed at compelling the ayatollahs to stop their malevolent ongoing support for global terrorism and the destruction of Israel, he has set out demands European leaders should be supporting instead of sniping at from the sidelines. There was much that was positive about the nuclear deal when it was signed in 2015. But Barack Obama’s jejune optimism that it would be a big step towards turning the Islamic Republic into a well-behaved, constructive regional partner has not been realised. Instead, Tehran has used the vast cash inflow following the lifting of sanctions to double down on its mischief-making

The ayatollahs have intensified support for terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas. They have been unceasing in threats to Israel, propped up the murderous Assad regime in Syria in a drive for Shia hegemony across the Middle East, and brazen in their defiance of UN resolutions to stop testing ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. They have been unrelenting in launching global cyber attacks, especially against the US but also targeting the emails of 9000 leading Brits, including Theresa May.

Despite his campaign promise to walk away from the nuclear deal, Mr Trump has not done so. His refusal to “certify” compliance, something he is required to do every 90 days, falls short of that. It is now up to the US congress to decide, within 60 days, whether to reimpose sanctions, or for Mr Trump to unilaterally pull the US out of the deal. The risk is that Iran could walk away and sprint towards building a bomb instead of waiting until 2025, when the moratorium on it doing so ends.

Mr Trump is right to determine that Tehran’s ongoing bad behaviour is intolerable and cannot be divorced from the nuclear deal. The two are interlinked. European leaders are disingenuous in suggesting otherwise. Only persistent international pressure can change Iran’s behaviour, and pretending all is rosy won’t cut it.