By Rohollah Ghasemian

How did Trump deceive the European leaders?

May 18, 2018 - 10:34

TEHRAN - Eventually, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his country's official withdrawal from a nuclear deal with Iran. The European troika (German, English, and French authorities) announced their regrets of the decision of the President of the United States in a joint statement, and stressed on their commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

However, European officials prefer not to talk about their direct play on Trump's ground at the moment!
 But the fact that London and Paris couldn't benefit from the deal they made with Trump over the nuclear accord can't be anymore concealed, and this is what destroyed Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron's international credibility. This is also true of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The only difference is that she started her play on Trump's ground a bit later than her two European counterparts.

 How was the deal made between Trump and Europe?

Donald Trump stepped at the White House in 2017. Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, was the first European official to travel to Washington to meet with the new president of the United States. During this visit, Trump informed Theresa May mind of his decision on "changing the nuclear deal". He emphasized that if the nuclear deal is not reviewed and redefined, the United States will no more remain as a part of it. It was during this visit and among American senators that Theresa May called the JCPOA a "controversial deal" for the first time since 2015. In this way, and indirectly, May announced her company with the United States for changing the JCPOA. Afterwards, it was time for the French President, Emmanuel Macron to take part in the joint game of London and Washington.
 In July 2017, Macron assured Trump that he would do its best to include Iran's missile capability in the context of the nuclear deal, and thus limit the regional power of Iran. But Macron never imagined that he had practically turned to Trump's piece in his confrontation with Iran. In September, 2017, and during the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, British and French officials were urged by the United States to attract Germany's positive stance to participate in the "West's joint effort to change the JCPOA."

 Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, surrendered to her Western counterparts much earlier than expected. As a result, by mid-2017, talks between American and European diplomats on changing the nuclear deal entered a new phase. A deal in which diplomats from the United States, Germany, France, and Britain, worked on a common goal called "complementary" or "secondary" agreement aimed at achieving Trump's four demands.

The shock that Trump had brought to European authorities

Rex Tillerson's resignation from the U.S. State Department and the replacement of Mike Pompeo, created the right impression among European officials that perhaps Trump has made his final decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal, and the U.S.-Europe talks are merely a kind of psychological game to lead the process by the White House. However, Pompeo stressed on "reforming the nuclear deal" in telephone calls with his European counterparts. An issue that somehow put the simple minds of the European politicians at ease.

The agreement was concluded between Americans and Europeans!

Since March 2018, news was released by the American and European sources that a diplomatic agreement was reached on changing the JCPOA. Accordingly, the three European countries agreed on including Trump's four conditions in the nuclear deal. They even agreed on the only difference they had with the US President (which was the continuation of Iran's nuclear constraints after 2025). Thus the European troika preferred to ignore the so-called sunset clauses at the interests of Trump's government, and they didn't speak of it in their imaginary secondary agreement! However, the Western media spoke with enthusiasm about the agreement between American and European diplomats on changing the JCPOA.
For instance, Sudeutsche Zeitung, the German newspaper, announced an agreement between the United States and the European troika on conditions under which Washington would remain committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The report said that according to the new agreement, Europe and America decided to put new sanctions on Iran's missile and regional activities instead of changing the nuclear deal. Even some Western media, such as the Associated Press, have announced the preparation of four documents relating to a new agreement between Washington and the European troika on the nuclear deal with Iran. Documents that were supposed to be signed by American and European leaders as "complementary" or "secondary" Clauses.

Trump's uninvited guest!

After a short while, reliable sources at the White House announced that Trump didn't basically read the terms of the so-called agreement between American and European experts on the JCPOA! Yes! He had made his decision on the JCPOA regardless of what the American and European experts' agreement. Afterwards, the authorities of the three countries of Germany, Britain and France, made visits to the United States to meet with Trump and encourage him to change his controversial decision. But it was already too late when they understood that they had been deceived by Trump. Even then, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel, in their separate visits to Washington, promised Trump to make every effort to conclude a secondary agreement, and meet all the demands of the President of the United States! But this did not prevent Trump to complete his plan of "deceiving the Europeans" over the JCPOA.

While only four hours remained to the announcement of the US President final decision on the nuclear deal, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told his European counterparts that Donald Trump has opposed the recent agreements on Iran's nuclear deal. This was while Trump hadn't paid the slightest attention to the negotiations' results and documents from the beginning.
 Well, now the "deceived Europe" is trying to maintain the nuclear deal with Iran. It seems that the European authorities don't intend to confess that they had been tricked by Trump right now. In this way, they're trying to keep their prestige, but they can't do it forever, and sooner or later, they will be forced to do so…