George Galloway, a former member of the British Parliament, spoke with Sputnik Radio’s Fault Lines on Tuesday to discuss UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s visit to Washington to convince the US not to exit the Iran nuclear deal.
The attempt ultimately failed as US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday afternoon that the US is withdrawing from the historic multilateral agreement signed in 2015.
Regarding the diplomat’s efforts to keep the deal alive inside the corridors of power at the White House, «even a stopped clock is right twice a day,» Galloway quipped.
«Boris Johnson was right yesterday» to try and convince US leaders not to withdraw from the deal, as Trump ultimately did Tuesday afternoon, the former MP said. «He appealed to Trump, vainly it would appear, not to go rogue, not to go nuclear,» he said, «but it seems that has fallen on deaf ears.»
«Johnson was right to say what he said, however foolish one thinks he is, because on this matter he’s right… to go rogue means that nobody else in their right mind would ever trust you again,» he said, alluding to the possibility that Trump’s Iran deal exit will make peace and denuclearization talks on the Korean Peninsula more difficult.
«Given that you’re trying to strike a deal with North Korea, it seems crazy politics,» he said.
The president called the JCPOA a «horrible, one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made,» and suggested that it was «defective at its core.» Trump also announced that «powerful» sanctions would be imposed against Iran, a country he claimed was the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism which, as if by routine, was not contextualized by verifiable evidence.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani remarked that it’s characteristic of the US to undermine international treaties and said that Trump acted illegally by exiting the JCPOA.
Trump did appear to leave room for negotiating a new deal in the future, for which he will be able to claim credit, saying in his speech Tuesday, «Iran’s leaders will naturally say that they refuse to negotiate a new deal. They refuse and that’s fine. I’d probably say the same thing if I was in their position. But the fact is, they are going to want to make a new and lasting deal, one that benefits all of Iran and the Iranian people.»
«When they do, I am ready, willing and able,» Trump said, adding that, «great things can happen for Iran. And great things can happen for the peace and stability that we all want in the Middle East. There has been enough suffering, death and destruction. Let it end now.»
