When the protests erupted in Iran during the West’s holiday season, not a few folks hoped that the US and the EU would bridge their recent differences over the nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA) and unite in support of the Iranian people fighting the “brutal theocracy.” These hopes, however, were comprehensively dashed. If anything, the way both sides read the protests may have deepened the transatlantic divide over Iran.

John Tirman, Professor at MIT, says: “I don’t think JCPOA will be destroyed, even with U.S. withdrawal. I don’t think sanctions of the kind that existed before could be re-imposed.” 

Tehran Security Conference can pave the way for the regional dialogs forum which was suggested by the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, said an international affairs analyst.

Peter Jenkins
It is with some reluctance that I write about President Donald Trump’s latest statement on Iran, because the statement is so full of half-truths, untruths, and logical fallacies that it is bad for one’s blood pressure to have to dwell on it for any length of time.

It is beyond the legal authorities of the US Congress and administration to make such changes in this multilateral international agreement, Jim Walsh, an MIT professor and prominent nuclear researcher said in an interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) in New York in response to a question whether it is possible to renegotiate Iran deal.
 

Adam Johnson
When it comes to Iran, do basic facts matter? Evidently not, since dozens and dozens of journalists keep casually reporting that Iran has a “nuclear weapons program” when it does not—a problem FAIR has reported on over the years (e.g., 9/9/15). 

Paul R. Pillar
Donald Trump’s speech on Iran is the latest chapter in his struggle to reconcile his overriding impulse to destroy any significant achievements of his predecessor with the fact that the most salient of those achievements in foreign policy—the Iran nuclear agreement or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—is working. 

So far, Israel has been the only state to support the Kurdish secession from Iraq, even celebrating the outcome of the September 25 referendum, in which an overwhelming majority of Iraqi Kurds voted for breaking away from Baghdad.

Over the past few weeks, there has been much talk about the U.S. leaving the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA). But, Reuters reports that a new plan is being scrutinized at the White House for staying in the deal while maintaining more restrictions on Iran in terms of its missile program and regional policies.

Mark Fitzpatrick
US President Donald Trump would have no substantive grounds for following up his broad hints to decide in the negative when the 15 October deadline comes for re-certifying that Iran is complying with the nuclear deal struck two years ago.