Tensions between the US and UK over whether to tear up
the Iran nuclear deal were exposed on Thursday when the secretary of state Rex
Tillerson said the US viewed Iran in default of the deal’s expectations, but
the British foreign secretary Boris Johnson urged the world to have faith in
its potential to create a more open Iran.
Tillerson repeatedly emphasised the US decision of
whether to end the agreement signed in 2015 will be based on a wider assessment
of Iranian behaviour – including in Yemen and Syria – and not just whether
Tehran is complying with the strict terms of the deal.
Johnson and Tillerson, speaking at a joint press
conference in London, were united in urging the Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi
to speak out against the massacre of Rohingya Muslims.
But the two men were at odds over Iran. Tillerson said
the US government is continuing to develop its policy on the deal, known as the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA.
The Trump administration on Thursday continued the
suspension of US nuclear-related sanctions, pending a review of its Iran
policy, but it also added eight Iranians to its sanctions list for cyber
attacks and one Iranian company on grounds of suspected involvement in trading
in restricted goods.
Donald Trump has reportedly expressed his determination
to “decertify” Iran’s compliance with the deal – a move that could put him
potentially at odds with his European allies, creating a new major
transatlantic rift.
The president must certify to the US congress every 90
days whether Iran is adhering to the agreement. If Trump refuses to certify
compliance, congress has 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions which
were lifted under the agreement.
In April, Trump ordered a broad review of Iranian
compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, negotiated under President Barack Obama,
and described by Trump as “the worst deal ever negotiated”.
Tillerson stressed that no final decision had been made,
but in hawkish tones added: “President Trump has made it clear to those of us
who are developing this policy that we must take in to account the totality of
Iranian threats, not just Iran’s nuclear capabilities, that is just one piece
of our posture towards Iran.”
Tillerson quoted the agreement’s preamble as saying the
signatories “anticipate that full implementation of this JCPOA will positively
contribute to regional and international peace and security.”
He argued Iran was in default of that expectation,
saying: “In our view Iran is clearly in default of these expectations through
their actions in propping up the Assad regime, by engaging in malicious
activity in the region, through its cyber activity, by aggressively developing
ballistic missiles.
“We have to consider the totality of Iran’s activities,
and not let our view be defined solely by the nuclear agreement”.
Johnson agreed that “the Iranians have got to behave and
fulfil their side of their bargain. They have got to be stop adventurist and
expansionist plans, causing trouble in Yemen, Syria or anywhere else.”
But in a markedly different tone he added: “On the other
side we in the UK feel that Iran a country of 80 million people, many of them
young and potentially liberal, could be won over. I think it is important they
see there are benefits from the JCPOA, so we in the UK want that alive.”
On Myanmar, Johnson made it clear that he could no
longer defend the Nobel peace prizewinner Aung San Suu Kyi. Last week he
described her as “one of the most inspiring figures of our age”, as he urged
her to stop violence against the Royhingha.
In a sign he has lost his patience, he said: “Let’s be
clear, she led Burma after a period of decades of repression by a military
junta and I yield to no one in my admiration of what she stood for and the way
she fought for democracy. I think many people around the world share that
admiration.
“But I think it’s now vital for her to use that moral
capital and that authority to make the point about the suffering of the people
of Rakhine. Nobody wants to see a return to military rule in Burma, nobody
wants to see a return of the generals.
“But it is vital for her now to make clear that this is
an abomination and that those people will be allowed back to Burma and that
preparation is being made and that the abuse of their human rights and the
hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of killings will stop.”
Attacks by Rohingya militants on security posts last
month triggered an army operation that has killed more than 400 people,
destroyed over 6,800 houses and sent nearly 400,000 fleeing to Bangladesh.
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